UCSB   LIBRARY 


OUR  LADY  OF  GOURDES. 


HENRI    LASSEBBE. 


*.    work   honored   with  a   special    brief  addressed   to 
Author,  by  his  Holiness  the  Pope,  Pius  IX. 


fqom  the 


ELEVENTH  EDITION. 


P.  J.  KENEDY  &  SONS 

44  BARCLAY  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


VUbU  ©bstat: 

REMIGIUS  LAFORT,  S.  T.  L, 
Censor. 

Imprimatur : 

*{•  JOHN   M.   FARLEY, 

Archbishop  of  New  York, 

Per  R.  L 
YOBS,  Jane  26, 1906. 


BRIEF  OF  HIS  HOLINESS  PIUS  IX. 


TO  THE  AOTHOB  Of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


To  his  beloved  Son,  Henri  Lasserre, 
Pius  IX.  POPE  : 

~T)ELOVED  SON,— Salutation  and  the  apos- 
,IJ  tolic  benediction.  Receive  our  felicitations 
very  dear  son.  Having  obtained  sonr*  time  since, 
a  most  remarkable  benefit,  you  nave  just  accom- 
plished, scrupulously  and  with  feelings  of  love,  the 
vow  you  then  made  :  you  have  just  employed  your 
best  efforts,  in  proving  and  establishing  the  truth 
of  the  recent  Apparition  of  the  most  clement 
Mother  of  God  ;  and  this  you  have  done  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  very  struggle  of  human  malice 
against  the  divine  mercy  serves  but  to  bring  out 
more  forcibly  the  luminous  evidence  of  the  fact. 

In  the  explanation  you  have  afforded  of  events, 
their  progress  and  dependence  on  each  other,  all  men 
may  perceive  clearly  and  with  certitude  how  our 
most  holy  Religion  tends  towards  and  results  in  the 
true  advantage  of  all  people ;  how  it  heaps  on  all 


4  LETTER  OF  PIUS  IX. 

those  who  have  recourse  to  it,  gifts  not  only  of  a 
celestial  and  spiritual  but  also  of  a  temporal  and 
terrestrial  nature.  They  will  be  able  to  see  how, 
even  in  the  absence  of  all  material  force,  this  Re- 
ligion is  all-powerful  for  the  maintenance  of  order; 
how,  amid  excited  multitudes,  it  can  restrain  within 
just  bounds  the  anger  and  indignation,  however 
justified,  of  exasperated  minds.  They  will  be  able 
to  see  lastly  how  the  Clergy  cooperate  by  their 
loyal  efforts  and  zeal  towards  the  attainment  of  such 
results,  and  how,  far  from  encouraging  superstition, 
they  display  infinitely  more  deliberation  and  sever- 
ity of  investigation  than  any  other  class  of  men, 
when  it  is  a  question  of  pronouncing  judgment  with 
reference  to  facts  which  seemingly  surpass  the  or- 
dinary powers  of  nature. 

Your  narrative,  in  no  less  luminous  a  manner, 
will  render  manifest  the  following  truth — that  im- 
piety declares  war  against  religion  entirely  in  vain, 
and  that  the  attempts  of  the  wicked  to  hamper  the 
divine  counsels  of  Providence  by  human  machina- 
tions are  utterly  unavailing,  the  perversity  of  men 
and  their  criminal  audacity  serving,  on  the  contrary, 
as  a  means,  in  the  hands  of  Providence,  to  confer 
on  its  works  more  power  and  splendor. 

Such  are  the  reasons  which  have  induced  us  to 
receive  with  the  most  lively  joy  your  work  entitled : 
Our  Lady  of  Lourdes.  We  firmly  believe  that  She 
who,  from  every  quarter,  attracts  towards  Herself 
by  miracles  of  her  power  and  goodness,  multitudes 
of  Pilgrims,  wills,  in  the  same  manner,  to  employ 
your  book  in  order  to  propagate  more  widely,  and 
to  excite  towards  Herself,  the  piety  and  confidence 
of  mankind,  to  the  end  that  all  may  participate  in 


LETTER  OF  PIUS  IX.  j 

the  plenitude  of  Her  graces.  As  a  pledge  of  the 
success  we  predict  for  your  work,  receive  our  apos- 
tolic benediction,  which  we  address  to  you  very 
affectionately,  as  a  testimony  of  our  gratitude  and 
our  paternal  benevolence. 

Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peters,  4  September,  1869, 
in  the  year  of  our  Pontificate  XXIV. 

PIUS  IX.  POPE. 


Dilecto  Filio  Henrico  Lasserre, 

PlUS  PP.  IX. 

DILECTE  FILI, — Salutem  et  apostob'cam  benedio- 
tionem.  Gratulamur  tibi,  dilecte  fill,  quod,  insigm 
auctus  beneficio,  votum  tuum  accuratissimo  studio 
diligentiaque  exsolveris ;  et  novam  clementissimae 
Dei  Matris  apparitionem  ita  testatam  facere  cur- 
averis,  ut  e  conflictu  ipso  humanae  malitise  cum 
cceleste  misericordiai  claritas  eventus  firmior  ac 
luculentior  appareret.  Omnes  certe  in  proposita  a 
te  rerum  serie  perspicere  poterunt,  religionem  nos- 
tram  sanctissimam  vergere  in  veram  populorum 
ntilitatem  ;  confluentes  ad  se  omnes  supernis  juxta 
et  terrenis  cumulare  beneficiis ;  aptirsimam  esse 
ordini  servando,  vi  etiam  submol£ ;  concitatos  in 
lurbis  animorum  motus,  licet  justos  compescere; 
lisque  rebus  sedulo  adlaborare  Clerum,  eumque 
adeo  abesse  a  superstitione  fovenda,  ut  imo  seg- 
morem  se  prcebeat  ac  severiorem  aliis  omnibus 
in  judicio  edendo  de  factis,  quae  naturae  vires  exce- 
dere  videntur.  Nee  minus  aperte  patebit,  impiet- 
atem  incassum  indixisse  religione  bellum,  et  frustra 
machinationes  hominum  divinae  Providentiae  con- 
Biliis  obstare ;  quae  imo  nequitia  eorum  et  ausu  sic 


6  LETTER  OF  PIUS  IX. 

uti  consuevit,  ut  majorem  inde  quaerat  operibus  suia 
splendorem  et  virtutem.  Libentissime  propterea 
excepimus  volumen  tuum,  cui  titulus  Notre  Dame 
de  Lourdes ;  fore  fidentes,  ut  quse  per  mira  poten- 
tiae  ac  benignitatis  suas  signa  undique  frequentis 
simos  advenas  accersit ;  scripto  etiam  tuo  uti  velit 
ad  propagandam  latius  fovendamque  in  se  pietatera 
hominum  ac  fiduciam,  ut  de  plenitudine  gratiae 
ejus  omnes  accipere  possmt.  Hujus,  quern  orain- 
amur,  exitus  labore  tuo  auspicem  accipe  benedic- 
tionera  Apostolicam,  quam  tibi  grati  animi  Nostri 
et  paternae  benevolentiae  testem  peramanter  imper- 
timus. 

Datum  Romas,  apud  S.  Petrum,  die  4  September, 
1869,  Pontificatus  Nostri  Anno  XXIV. 

PIUS  PP.  IX. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


IN  consequence  of  a  remarkable  favor  received, 
the  account  of  which  will  be  duly  found  in  the 
course  of  this  work,  I  promised,  some  years  ago, 
to  write  the  history  of  the  extraordinary  events 
which  have  given  rise  to  the  Pilgrimage  of  Lourdes. 
If  I  have  been  guilty  of  a  grave  fault  in  deferring 
for  so  long  a  time  the  execution  of  my  promise,  1 
have,  at  least,  made  the  most  conscientious  efforts 
to  study,  with  scrupulous  attention,  the  subject  I 
wished  to  treat. 

The  presence  of  the  incessant  procession  of  visit- 
ors, pilgrims,  men,  women,  whole  populations,  who 
come  now  from  every  quarter  to  kneel  before  a 
lonely  grotto,  entirely  unknown  ten  years  ago,  and 
which  the  word  of  a  child  has  caused  to  be  regarded 
all  at  once  as  a  divine  sanctuary  ;  on  seeing  the 
vast  edifice  rising  which  the  faith  of  the  people  is 
erecting  on  that  spot  at  a  cost  of  nearly  two  mil- 
lions, I  felt  an  earnest  desire  not  only  to  search  for 
the  proofs  of  the  supernatural  fact  itself,  but  also  to 
trace  in  what  manner,  by  what  logical  connection 
of  things  or  of  ideas,  the  belief  in  it  had  been  so 
universally  spread. 

(7) 


8  PREP  A  OS. 

How  has  it  been  produced  ?  How  was  an  event 
of  such  a  nature  accomplished  in  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  ?  How  could  the  testimony  of 
an  illiterate  little  girl  with  regard  to  a  fact  so  extra- 
ordinary, touching  Apparitions  which  no  one  of 
those  around  her  saw,  find  credit  and  give  birth  to 
Such  astonishing  results  ? 

There  are  persons  who  have  one  peremptory 
word  in  answer  to  such  questions,  and  the  word 
"  superstition"  is  very  convenient  for  that  purpose. 
For  my  own  part,  I  am  not  so  expeditious ;  and  I 
wished  to  account  to  myself  for  a  phenomenon  so 
entirely  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  things,  and 
so  worthy  of  attention,  from  whatever  point  of  view 
we  regard  it.  Whether  the  Miracle  be  true  or 
false  ;  whether  the  cause  of  this  vast  concourse  of 
people  is  to  be  found  in  divine  agency  or  human 
error,  a  study  of  this  kind  does  not  the  less  possess 
the  highest  interest.  I  remark,  however,  that  the 
Sectaries  of  Free-thought  are  very  cautious  of 
entering  upon  it.  They  prefer  to  deny  the  whole 
thing  bluntly.  This  is,  at  the  same  time,  easier  and 
more  prudent. 

I  understand,  very  differently  from  them,  the 
restless  search  after  truth.  If  to  deny  everything 
flatly  appears  to  them  the  simplest  mode,  to  affirm 
everything  roundly  appears  to  me  to  be  somewhat 
hazardous. 

I  have  seen  savants  toil  up  the  steep  paths  of 
mountains  in  order  to  be  able  to  explain  to  them- 
selves why  an  insect  of  a  certain  class  which  is 
found  during  the  summer  on  the  highest  peaks,  is, 
after  the  winter  has  set  in,  only  to  be  met  with  in 
the  valleys.  This  is  all  very  well,  and  I  cannot 


PREFACE.  9 

blame  them.  [  sometimes  say  to  myself,  however 
that  the  great  movements  of  humanity,  and  the 
causes  which  set  immense  multitudes  in  motion, 
have  claims  fully  as  great  on  the  employment  oi 
the  sagacity  of  the  human  mind.  History,  Religion, 
Science,  Philosophy,  Medicine,  the  different  work- 
ings of  human  nature,  are,  in  my  opinion,  quite  as 
curious  as  Entomology. 

This  study  I  wished  to  render  complete.  I  did 
not,  therefore,  content  myself  with  official  docu- 
ments or  letters,  or  official  reports  or  written  attes- 
tations. It  was  my  wish,  as  much  as  possible,  to 
know  everything  and  see  everything  for  myself,  to 
have  everything  brought  freshly  before  my  eyes 
through  the  memory  and  narrative  of  eye-witnesses. 
I  have  made  long  journeys  over  France  to  interro- 
gate all  those  who  had  figured  —  whether  as  the 
chief  personages  or  as  witnesses  —  in  the  events  I 
had  to  recount,  to  check  their  accounts  by  com- 
paring them  one  with  another,  and  then  arrive  at 
entire  and  lucid  truth. 

In  my  investigations  connected  with  this  divine 
history,  I  wished,  in  a  word,  to  follow  and  even 
push  further,  if  that  were  possible,  the  excellent 
method  which  M.  Thiers  has  employed  with  such 
happy  results  in  the  long  labors  and  sagacious  re- 
searches which  preceded  his  chef-d'oeuvre  on  the 
Consulate  and  the  Empire. 

I  trust  that,  with  God's  assistance  my  efforts 
have  not  been  entirely  in  vain. 

Once  having  acquired  the  >truth,  I  have  written 
about  it  as  freely  as  if,  like  the  Due  de  St.  Simon, 
I  had  closed  my  door  and  written  a  history  not 
destined  to  appear  to  the  world  until  after  the  laosa 


10  PREFACE. 

of  a  century.  1  have  wished  to  say  everything 
while  the  witnesses  are  still  living-,  to  give  their 
names  and  place  of  abode,  that  it  might  be  possible 
for  others  to  interrogate  them  and  to  renew  the 
investigation  I  have  myself  made,  in  order  to  con- 
trol my  own  labor.  It  was  my  wish  that  each 
reader  might  examine  for  himself  my  assertions, 
and  render  homage  to  the  truth,  if  I  have  been 
sincere ;  it  was  my  wish  that  he  might  be  able  to 
cover  me  with  confusion  and  dishonor  if  I  have 
been  guilty  of  falsehoods. 

The  deep  investigation  to  which  I  devoted  my- 
self, the  documents  I  consulted,  the  numerous  tes- 
timonies I  have  heard,  have  allowed  me  to  enter 
into  circumstantial  details,  which  were  not  at  the 
disposal  of  those  who  gave  a  summary  account  of 
these  events  when  they  first  occurred,  as  also  to 
rectify  sundry  errors  which  had  crept  into  the 
chronological  department.  1  have  been  most  at- 
tentive in  re-establishing  the  exact  order  in  which 
the  several  events  occurred.  This  was  very- 
necessary  in  order  to  convey  a  just  conception 
of  their  logical  consequences  and  their  real  es- 
sence. 

To  study  facts,  not  only  in  their  outward  appear- 
ance, but  in  their  hidden  life  ;  to  trace,  with  an  ever 
wakeful  attention,  the  link  often  distant — often  im- 
perceptible at  first  sight — which  unites  them  ;  to  un- 
derstand and  explain  clearly  their  cause,  origin  and 
generation;  to  surprise  and  detect  the  action  of  the 
eternal  laws  and  marvelous  harmonies  of  the  mir- 
aculous orders,  in  the  depths  one  attempts  to  illu- 
minate •  such  is  the  aim  I  had  the  boldness  to  con. 
ceive. 


PREFACE.  n 

Such  being  my  thoughts,  no  circumstance  could 
be  a  matter  of  indifference  or  deserve  neglect.  The 
slightest  detail  might  contain  a  light,  and  permit 
me  to  seize — if  I  may  be  allowed  so  to  speak — the 
hand  of  God  in  flagrant le  delict o. 

From  this  arose  my  researches;  from  this  the 
form  very  different  from  the  habitual  style  of  offi- 
cial histories,  which  my  narrative  adopted  of  its 
own  accord  ;  from  this,  both  in  my  account  of  the 
Apparitions  as  in  that  of  the  miraculous  cures, 
those  portraits,  dialogues,  landscapes,  circumstances 
of  time  and  place,  and  descriptions  of  the  weather : 
from  this,  those  thousand  details  which  have  cost 
me  so  much  trouble  to  collect,  but  which  gave  me 
as  I  piously  stored  them  up,  the  unspeakable  plea- 
sure of  seeing  for  myself,  of  tasting  and  feeling — 
with  all  the  charm  of  a  discovery  scarcely  suspect- 
ed beforehand — the  deep  harmony  of  works  which 
proceed  from  God. 

This  joy  I  now  endeavor  to  communicate  to  my 
readers,  to  my  friends,  to  those  who  are  curious  to 
learn  the  secrets  from  on  high.  Some  of  these  de- 
tails at  times  arrive  so  wonderfully  and  opportunely 
that  the  reader,  accustomed  to  the  discords  of  this 
world,  might  suspect  the  painter  of  flattery  in  his 
picture.  But  God  is  an  artist  that  needs  not  the 
invention  of  others.  The  supernatural  works  which 
He  designs  to  accomplish  here  below  are  perfect  in 
themselves.  To  copy  them  faithfully  would  be  to 
hit  on  the  ideal. 

But  who  can  copy  them  in  this  way  ?  Who  can 
see  them  in  all  their  beauty  and  harmony  ?  Who 
has  not  his  sight  dimmed  ?  Who  can  penetrate  all 
the  secrets  of  these  great  and  little  things  ?  No 


12 


PREFACE. 


one,  alas !     Almost  everything  escapes  us  and  we 
only  see  by  glimpses. 

I  have  now  dared  to  say  what  I  should  have 
wished  to  have  done.  The  reader  alone  will  see 
what  I  have  done. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


FIRST  BOOK. 
I. 

small  town  of  Lourdes  is  situated  in  the 
_1_  department  of  the  Hautes  -  Pyrenees,  at  the 
embouchure  of  the  seven  valleys  of  the  Lavedan, 
l>etween  the  last  undulations  of  the  hills  terminating 
the  plain  of  Tarbes  and  the  first  escarpments  with 
tvhich  the  Grande  Montagne  commences.  Its 
nouses,  scattered  irregularly  over  an  uneven  sur- 
face, are  grouped  as  it  were  in  defiance  of  order 
at  the  base  of  an  enormous  rock,  entirely  isolated 
on  the  summit  of  which,  rises  like  the  nest  of  an 
eagle,  a  formidable  castle.  At  the  foot  of  this  rock, 
beneath  the  shade  of  alders,  oaks  and  poplars,  the 
Gave  hurries  rapidly  along,  breaking  its  foaming 
waters  against  a  bar  of  pebbles,  and  serving  to  turn 
the  noisy  wheels  of  three  or  four  mills  built  on  its 
banks.  The  din  of  these  mills  and  the  murmur  of 
the  wind  in  the  branches  of  the  trees  are  mingled 
with  the  sound  of  its  gliding  waves. 
The  Gave  is  formed  by  the  several  torrents  of 

03) 


I4  OUR  LADY   OF  LO URDES. 

the  upper  valleys,  which  in  their  turn  themselves 
issue  from  the  eternal  glaciers  and  stainless  snows 
which  mask  in  the  depths  of  the  chain,  the  arid 
sides  of  the  Grande  Montagne.  The  most  import- 
ant of  these  tributaries  proceeds  from  the  cascade 
of  Gavarine,  which  fails,  as  every  one  knows,  from 
one  of  those  rare  peaks  which  no  human  foot  has 
yet  been  able  to  scale. 

Leaving  on  its  right  the  town,  the  castle  and  all 
the  mills  of  Lourdes  (with  the  exception  of  one 
built  on  its  left  bank),  the  Gave,  at  if  anxious  to 
reach  its  ultimate  destination,  flows  rapidly  towards 
the  town  of  Pau,  which  it  hurries  by  in  order  to 
join  the  Adour  and  finally  the  ocean. 

In  the  environs  of  Lourdes,  the  scenery  on  the 
banks  of  the  Gave  is  sometimes  wild  and  savage, 
sometimes  charming ;  verdant  meadows,  cultivated 
fields,  thick  woods  and  lofty  rocks,  are  reflected 
by  turns  in  its  waters.  Here,  the  eye  gazes  over 
smiling  and  cultivated  farms,  the  most  graceful 
landscape,  the  high  road  to  Pau,  continually  dotted 
with  carriages,  horsemen  and  travelers  on  foot; 
there,  over  stern  mountains  in  all  the  terror  of  their 
solitude. 

The  castle  of  Lourdes,  almost  impregnable  be- 
fore the  invention  of  artillery,  was  in  days  of  yore 
the  key  of  the  Pyrenees.  It  has  been  handed  down 
by  tradition  that  Charlemagne,  at  war  with  the  In- 
fidels, was  long  unable  to  take  possession  of  it.  Just 
as  he  was  on  the  point  of  raising  the  siege,  an  eagle, 
winging  his  flight  above  the  highest  tower  ol  the 
beleaguered  fortress,  let  fall  upon  it  a  splendid  fish 
which  it  had  just  captured  in  a  lake  in  the  nc'gh 
borhood. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUTWE8,  Ij 

Whether  it  was  that  on  this  particular  day  the 
aws  of  the  Church  prescribed  abstinence,  or  that 
the  fish  was  a  Christian  symbol  still  popular  at  that 
epoch,  one  thing  is  certain — the  Saracen  chief  Mi- 
rat,  who  occupied  the  castle,  regarded  the  occur- 
rence in  the  light  of  a  prodigy,  and  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  true  faith.  It  needed  nothing  less  than 
this  miraculous  conversion  of  Mirat  and  his  subse- 
quent baptism,  to  re-incorporate  this  castle  into  the 
domains  of  Christendom.  Further,  the  Saracen,  as 
the  chronicle  informs  us,  expressly  stipulated,  that 
"  having  become  the  champion  of  Our  Lady,  the 
Mother  of  God,  he  would  have  it  understood,  both 
in  his  own  case  and  in  that  of  his  descendants,  that 
his  dignity  of  Count,  free  from  all  earthly  fiefdom, 
was  held  from  Her  alone." 

The  punning  coat  of  arms  of  the  town  testify  to 
this  extraordinary  fact  of  the  eagle  and  the  fish. 
Lourdes  bears  on  a  field  gules  three  towers  or,  faced 
with  stone-work  sable  on  a  rock  argent.  The  center 
tower,  higher  than  that  on  either  side,  is  surmount- 
ed by  an  eagle  with  outstretched  wings  sable,  hold- 
ing in  his  beak  a  trout  argent. 

During  the  whole  period  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  castle  of  Lourdes  was  a  center  of  terror  to  the ' 
surrounding  country.  Sometimes  in  the  name  of 
the  English,  sometimes  in  that  of  the  counts  of  Bi- 
gorre,  it  was  occupied  by  a  kind  of  free-booting 
captains,  who,  in  point  of  fact,  warred  strictly  on 
their  own  account,  and  levied  contributions  on  the 
inhabitants  of  the  plain  in  a  circle  of  forty  or  fifty 
leagues.  Their  incredible  audacity,  we  are  told, 
carried  them  even  to  the  extent  of  laying  violent 
hands  on  persons  and  property  up  to  the  very  gates 


t6  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

of  Montpelier,  after  which  they  sought  security, 
like  veritable  birds  of  prey,  in  their  own  inaccessi- 
ble aerie. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  the  castle  of  Lourdes 
nras  converted  into  a  state  prison.  It  was  the  Bas- 
tile  of  the  Pyrenees.  The  Revolution  opened  the 
gates  of  this  prison  to  three  or  four  persons  confined 
in  it  by  the  arbitrary  power  of  despotism,  and  in 
return  peopled  it  with  several  hundreds  of  crimi- 
nals, who,  to  tell  the  truth,  were  culpable  in  a  very 
different  way.  A  contemporary  author  has  noticed 
on  the  prison  register  the  offences  of  these  unfortu- 
nate wretches.  He  gives  us  specimens  of  the  desig- 
nations of  the  crimes  attached  to  the  name  of  each 
prisoner :  "  Unpatriotic — Having  refused  the  kiss  of 

peace  to  citizen  N before  the  altar  of  our  country 

—  Troublesome — A  drunkard — Cold  as  ice  toward  the 
Revolution  —  Hypocritical  in  disposition  and  reserv- 
ed in  his  opinions — A  peaceable  Harpagon,  indifferent 
towards  the  Revolution,  etc.,  etc" 

From  this  we  perceive  that  the  Revolution  had 
just  reasons  for  complaining  of  the  arbitrary  power 
of  kings,  and  had  substituted  a  regime  of  mild  tol- 
eration and  entire  liberty  for  the  terrible  despotism 
of  the  monarchy. 

During  the  Empire  the  Castle  of  Lourdes  pre- 
served its  character  of  state-prison,  and  only  lost  it 
on  the  return  of  the  Bourbons.  Since  the  Res- 
toration, the  terrible  castle  of  the  middle  ages  hav- 
ing become  in  the  natural  order  of  things  a  place  of 
fourth  or  fifth-rate  importance,  is  now  peaceably 
garrisoned  by  a  company  of  infantry  under  the 
orders  of  a  commandant.  The  town  has  neverthe- 
less remained  the  key  of  the  Pyrenees,  but  in  quite 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDES.  i; 

a  different  point  of  view  to  what  it  was  formerly. 
Lourdes  is  the  point  of  intersection  of  all  the  roads 
leading  to  the  warm  baths,  whether  you  go  to  Bar 
£ges,  to  Saint  Sauveur,  to  Cautarets,  to  Bagn&res 
de  Bigorre,  or  from  Cauterets  or  Paii  you  attempt 
to  reach  Luchou,  you  must  always  pass  through 
Lourdes.  From  the  earliest  times  since  the  baths 
of  the  Pyrenees  have  been  visited  by  strangers,  the 
innumerable  diligences  employed  for  the  convey- 
ance of  passengers  to  the  baths  during  the  summer 
season  were  in  the  habit  of  stopping  at  the  Hotel 
de  la  Poste.  Travelers  were  usually  allowed  time 
to  dine,  to  visit  the  castle,  and  to  admire  the  scenery 
before  resuming  their  journey. 

We  see  then  that  for  the  last  one  or  two  centu- 
ries this  little  town  has  been  constantly  traversed 
by  those  resorting  to  the  baths,  and  by  tourists  from 
every  corner  of  Europe.  A  tolerably  advanced  state 
of  civilization  has  been  the  result. 

In  1858,  the  period  when  this  history  commences, 
the  greater  part  of  the  Parisian  newspapers  had  long 
been  regularly  received  at  Lourdes.  Several  of  its 
inhabitants  took  in  the  Revue  des  deux  Mondes. 
As  is  everywhere  the  case,  the  cabarets  and  caf£s 
supplied  their  customers  with  three  numbers  of  the 
Siecle — to-day's,  yesterday's  and  the  day  before  yes- 
terday's. The  Bourgeoisie  and  the  Clergy  were 
divided  between  the  Journal  des  Debats,  the  Presse, 
the  Moniteur,  the  Univers  and  the  Union. 

Lourdes  boasted  a  club,  a  printing  establishment 
and  a  newspaper.  The  Sous-prefet  resided  at  Ar- 
geles ;  but  the  grief  experienced  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Lourdes  at  being  deprived  of  this  functionary, 
was  somewhat  alleviated  by  the  joy  of  having  tho 


Ig  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

Tribunal  de  premiere  instance,  that  is  to  Bay  three 
Judges,  a  Procureur  Imperial  and  a  Substitut.  As 
inferior  satellites  of  this  luminous  centre,  there  grav- 
itated around  it  a  Juge  de  Paix,  a  commissary  of 
Police,  six  Huissiers  and  seven  Gendarmes  (one  of 
them  a  Brigadier).  Within  the  town  there  was  a 
hospital  and  a  prison,  and,  as  we  shall  have  perhaps 
an  opportunity  of  explaining,  circumstances  oc- 
curred when  some  strong-minded  persons,  nourish- 
ed on  the  wholesome  and  humanitarian  doctrines 
of  the  Siecle,  pretended  it  would  be  necessary  to 
place  the  criminals  in  the  hospital  and  transfer  the 
sick  to  the  prison. 

But  in  addition  to  these  powerful  reasoners,  at  the 
bar  of  Lourdes  and  in  the  medical  profession,  there 
might  be  found  men  equally  learned  and  distinguish- 
ed in  manner — men  of  remarkable  powers  of  mind 
and  of  impartial  observation,  such  as  are  not  always 
to  be  met  with  in  places  of  greater  importance. 

The  mountain  races  are  generally  gifted  with 
firm  and  practical  good  sense.  The  population  of 
Lourdes  having  had  little  admixture  with  foreign 
blood,  was  excellent.  Few  places  could  be  cited  in 
France  where  the  schools  are  more  numerously  at- 
tended than  at  Lourdes.  There  is  not  a  boy  in  the 
place  who  does  not  go  for  several  years  to  some 
lay  institution  or  to  the  school  conducted  by  the 
Brothers ;  not  a  little  girl  who  does  not  in  the  same 
manner  attend  the  school  of  the  Sisters  at  Nevers, 
until  she  has  completed  the  education  adapted  to 
her  place  in  society.  With  more  instruction  than 
the  working  classes  of  most  of  our  cities,  the  peo- 
ple of  Lourdes  have,  at  the  same  time,  the  simplicity 
of  rural  life.  They  are  warm  in  their  affections, 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUMDE3.  ig 

upright  in  heart,  abounding  in  southern  wit,  and 
strictly  moral.  They  are  honest,  devout,  and  averse 
to  innovations. 

Certain  local  institutions,  dating  from  time  im- 
memorial, serve  to  maintain  this  happy  state  of 
things.  The  inhabitants  of  these  regions  long  be- 
fore the  pretended  discoveries  of  modern  progress, 
had  understood  and  reduced  to  practice  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Church,  those  ideas  of  joint  responsi- 
bility and  prudence  which  have  given  birth  to  our 
mutual  aid  societies.  Societies  of  such  a  descrip- 
tion exist  at  Lourdes  and  have  been  in  operation  for 
centuries  past ;  they  date  from  the  middle  ages ; 
they  have  emerged  victoriously  from  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  the  philanthropists  would  have  long  ere 
this  sung  their  praises,  had  they  not  derived  their 
vitality  from  the  religious  principle  and  were  they 
not  still  called,  as  in  the  fifteenth  century,  "  Broth- 
erhoods." 

"  Almost  all  the  people,"  says  M.  de  Lagreze, 
enter  these  associations  which  combine  philan- 
tnrophy  with  devotion.  Those  of  the  laboring 
class,  united  under  the  name  of  confreres,  place  their 
work  under  the  patronage  of  heaven  and  mutually 
exchange  assistance  and  Christian  charity.  The 
common  coffer  receives  the  weekly  offering  of 
the  workman  when  in  high  health  and  full  vigor, 
to  return  it  one  day  to  him  when  laid  low  by  sick- 
ness or  distress.  When  a  workman  dies  the  ex- 
penses of  his  funeral  are  paid  by  the  association, 
and  its  members  accompany  him  to  his  last  resting 
place.  Each  Brotherhood  (with  the  exception  01 
two  which  share  the  high  altar  between  them,  has 
a  private  chapel,  the  name  of  which  is  assumed  by 


20  OUR  LADY  OF  LOVRDES. 

the  members  and  the  expenses  of  which  are  de 
frayed  by  the  offertory  on  Sunday.  The  Brother 
hood  of  Notre  Dame  de  Grace  is  composed  of 
husbandmen ;  that  of  Notre  Dame  de  CarmeA,  of 
slaters ;  that  of  Notre  Dame  de  Monsarrat,  of  ma- 
sons; that  of  Saint  Anne,  of  cabinet-makers;  that 
of  Saint  Lucy,  of  tailors  and  seamstresses ;  that  of 
the  Ascension,  of  quarry  men ;  that  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  of  church-wardens  ;  that  of  Saint  John 
and  St.  James,  of  all  those  who  have  received  either 
of  these  names  in  baptism." 

The  women  are  in  the  same  manner  members  of 
similar  religious  associations.  One  of  them,  "  The 
Congregation  of  the  Children  of  Mary,"  is  of  a  pe- 
culiar character.  It  is  also,  though  in  a  spiritual 
point  of  view,  a  mutual  aid  society.  In  order  to 
obtain  admission  into  this  Congregation,  which  is 
of  course  confined  to  the  laity,  the  candidate  must 
have  been  long  known  as  of  irreproachable  charac- 
ter. Little  girls  think  of  it  long  before  they  become 
young  women.  The  members  of  this  Congregation 
pledge  themselves  never  to  incur  danger  of  falling 
by  frequenting  worldly  society  —  in  which  the  re- 
ligious spirit  is  lost  —  not  to  follow  the  absurdities 
of  fashion,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  attend  punctu- 
ally the  meetings  and  instructions  which  take  place 
every  Sunday.  Admission  into  the  Congregation 
is  deemed  an  honor,  while  exclusion  from  it  is  con- 
sidered a  disgrace.  The  good  effected  by  this  as- 
sociation in  preserving  a  high  tone  of  morality  in 
the  country  and  preparing  young  women  for  their 
maternal  duties  is  incalculable.  Consequently,  in  a 
great  number  of  dioceses  many  Confreries  have  been 
founded  on  the  model  of  this  Mother  Congregation. 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDE8.  21 

The  whole  country  has  a  peculiar  devotion  for 
the  Virgin.  Numerous  sanctuaries  are  consecrated 
to  her  in  the  Pyrenees  from  Pietat  or  Garaison  to 
Betharram.  All  the  altars  in  the  parish  church  at 
Lourdes  are  dedicated  to  the  Mother  of  God. 


III. 


SUCH  was  the  state  of  Lourdes  ten  years  ago. 
The  railroad  did  not  then  pass  by  it,  nor  was  it 
indeed  in  contemplation.  One  marked  out  more 
direct  appeared  to  be  intended  beforehand  for  the 
line  of  the  Pyrenees. 

The  whole  of  the  town  and  the  fortress,  as  we 
have  already  observed,  are  situated  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Gave,  which  after  breaking  —  in  its 
course  from  the  south  —  against  the  enormous  rock 
that  serves  as  a  pedestal  to  the  castle,  makes  imme- 
diately a  bend  at  right  angles  and  takes  suddenly  a 
westerly  direction. 

An  ancient  bridge,  built  some  little  distance 
above  the  first  houses  of  the  town,  serves  as  a  means 
of  communication  with  the  country,  meadows, 
forests  and  mountains  on  the  left  bank. 

On  this  last  bank,  a  little  above  the  bridge  and 
opposite  to  the  castle,  a  large  canal  is  formed  from 
the  water  of  the  Gave.  This  canal  rejoins  its  par- 
ent stream  about  a  kilometre  further  down,  after 
passing  the  rocks  of  Massabielle,  the  base  of  which 
it  washes. 

The  long  island  formed  by  the  Gave  and  this 
canal  is  one  vast  and  verdant  tract  of  meadow  land 
and  is  known  by  the  name  of  rile  du  Chalet,  or 
more  commonly  le  Chalet. 


22 

The  mill  of  Sivy,  the  only  one  on  the  xeft  bank, 
is  built  across  the  canal  and  serves  as  a  bridge 
between  the  island  meadow  and  the  main  land. 

In  1858  there  was  scarcely  a  wilder,  more  savage 
or  solitary  spot  in  the  environs  of  the  busy  little 
town  we  have  described,  than  the  Rocks  of  Massa- 
bielle,  at  the  foot  of  which  the  mill-stream  rejoined 
the  Gave. 

A  few  paces  above  this  junction,  on  the  bank  of 
the  stream,  the  abrupt  rock  was  pierced  at  its  base 
by  three  irregular  caverns,  curiously  placed  above 
each  othe"  and  communicating  with  one  another 
like  holes  in  a  gigantic  sponge. 

The  singularity  of  these  caverns  renders  them 
somewhat  difficult  to  describe. 

The  first  and  the  largest  was  on  a  level  with  the 
ground.  It  had  almost  the  appearance  of  a  booth 
at  a  country  fair,  or  of  a  badly  shaped  and  very 
high  oven  cut  vertically  through  the  centre,  so  as 
only  to  form  a  semi-dome.  The  entrance  in  the 
shape  of  an  arch  very  much  askew  was  about  thir- 
teen feet  high.  The  breadth  and  depth  of  the 
grotto  could  not  have  been  less  than  three  times 
its  height.  The  rock  sloped  back  from  the  en- 
trance, like  the  roof  of  a  garret  seen  from  below, 
and  became  narrower  on  either  side. 

Above,  somewhat  to  the  right  of  the  spectator, 
were  two  superimposed  apertures  in  the  rock, 
forming  as  it  were  annexes  or  dependencies  D!  this 
larger  one. 

Viewed  from  the  outside  the  principal  of  these 
two  openings  was  oval  in  form  and  about  the  size 
of  a  window  in  a  house  or  a  niche  in  a  church.  It 
sloped  slightly  up  as  it  receded ;  then,  at  the  depth 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  33 

of  about  six  feet,  forked  ;  one  branch  descending  to 
the  grotto  beneath,  the  other  turning  back  on  itself 
as  far  as  the  exterior  of  the  rock  and  forming  the 
second  upper  aperture  of  which  we  have  spoken, 
but  being  of  no  importance  except  that  it  gave  light 
in  every  way  to  this  supplementary  cavity. 

An  eglantine  or  wild  rose,  springing  from  a  fis- 
sure in  the  rock,  trailed  its  long  branches  at  the 
base  of  this  niche-like  orifice. 

At  the  foot  of  this  little  series  of  caverns,  which 
the  eye  could  take  in  at  a  glance,  but  of  which  it 
is  very  difficult  by  mere  description  to  convey  a 
correct  idea,  the  mill-stream  rushes  over  a  chaos  of 
enormous  rocks,  fallen  from  the  mountains,  to  re- 
unite with  the  Gave  five  or  six  paces  below. 

The  grotto  was  exactly  in  front  of  the  He  du 
Chalet  which,  as  we  have  already  observed,  was 
formed  by  the  Gave  and  the  canal. 

These  caverns  were  called  the  Grotto  of  Massi- 
bielle  from  the  name  of  the  rocks  of  which  it  formed 
a  part.  In  \he  patois  of  the  country  "  Massabielle  " 
signifies  "  Old  Rocks." 

Lower  down  on  the  banks  of  the  Gave  there  was 
a  steep  and  rugged  hillock  which,  as  well  as  these 
rocks,  belonged  to  the  commune  of  Lourdes,  and 
where  the  poor  of  the  town  used  to  bring  their  pigs 
to  feed.  On  the  approach  of  a  storm  the  grotto 
served  them  as  a  place  of  shelter,  as  also  to  the  few 
fishermen  who  were  wont  to  fisn  with  nets  in  this 
part  of  the  Gave. 

As  in  all  caverns  of  this  nature  the  rock  was  dry 
in  fine  weather  and  slightly  humid  when  it  rained. 
This  occasional  humidity  and  imperceptible  drip- 
ping of  the  wet  season  was  only  observable  on  one 


24  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

side,  that  to  your  right  on  entering-.  It  is  precisely 
on  this  side  that  the  rain  usually  comes,  driven  by 
the  westerly  wind  ;  and  the  rock  being  very  slender 
and  full  of  clefts  in  this  place  suffered  in  the  same 
way  as  do  houses  with  the  same  exposure  and  built 
with  indifferent  mortar. 

The  left  side  and  the  bottom  not  being  thus  ex- 
posed were  always  as  dry  as  the  floor  of  a  drawing- 
room.  The  accidental  humidity  of  the  western 
wall  served  even  to  set  off  by  contrast  the  burning 
dryness  of  the  northern,  eastern  and  southern  por- 
tions of  the  grotto. 

Above  this  triple  cavity  arose  almost  in  a  peak 
the  enormous  mass  of  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle, 
garlanded  in  many  a  place  with  ivy  and  box, 
heather  and  moss.  Tangled  brambles,  hazels  and 
wild  roses,  a  few  trees,  whose  branches  were  often 
broken  by  the  wind,  extended  their  roots  into  the 
fissures  of  the  rocks,  wherever  the  falling  in  of  the 
mountain  or  the  breath  of  heaven  had  afforded  them 
a  handful  of  earth  for  their  nourishment.  The 
eternal  sower,  He  whose  invisible  hand  fills  the 
immensity  of  space  with  suns  and  planets,  He  who 
has  produced  out  of  nothing  the  ground  on  which 
we  tread,  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  the 
Creator  of  so  many  millions  of  rr.en  who  have  peo- 
pled the  earth,  and  so  many  millions  of  angels  who 
people  heaven,  that  God,  whose  wealth  is  bound- 
less and  power  unlimited,  does  not  intend  that  a 
single  atom  should  be  lost  in  the  immense  regions 
of  his  works.  And  this  is  why  He  leaves  nothing 
barren  which  is  capable  of  production ;  this  is  why 
over  the  entire  extent  of  our  globe  innumerable 
germs  float  in  the  air,  covering  the  vegetable  earth 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  35 

wherever  it  appears,  were  there  only  room  for  the 
existence  of  a  blade  of  grass  or  for  the  growth  of 
the  tiniest  moss.  And  in  the  same  way,  O  Divine 
Sower!  thy  graces,  like  an  invisible  dust  of  fruitful 
seeds,  float  around  our  souls  on  the  watch  for  a 
fertile  soil.  And  if  we  are  so  barren,  it  is  because 
we  present  to  Thee  sometimes  hearts  harder  and 
more  arid  than  the  rock,  sometimes  beaten  paths 
for  ever  trodden  by  the  feet  of  the  passers  by, 
sometimes  thickets  of  thorns  solely  occupied  by 
rank  weeds  which  choke  the  good  seed. 

IV. 

IT  was  necessary  to  describe  somewhat  minutely 
the  country  destined  to  be  the  scene  of  the  events 
we  are  about  to  relate.  It  is  of  no  less  importance 
to  indicate  beforehand  what  light,  or  I  should  rather 
say  what  profound  moral  truth  lights  up  the  start- 
ing point  of  this  history,  in  which,  as  will  be  seen, 
the  hand  of  God  has  visibly  appeared.  These  re- 
flections will  retard  us  but  an  instant  in  the  com- 
mencement of  our  recital. 

It  appears  almost  superfluous  to  point  out  the 
strong  contrasts  to  be  met  with  in  this  world,  in 
which  the  wicked  and  the  good,  the  rich  and  the 
poor  are  mingled  together,  and  the  cottage  of  the 
indigent  is  sometimes  separated  but  by  a  single  wall 
from  the  abode  of  opulence.  On  one  side,  all  the 
pleasures  of  a  life  of  ease,  agreeably  organized  in 
the  midst  of  the  comforts  and  elegance  of  luxury ; 
on  the  other,  the  horrors  of  want,  cold,  hunger, 
disease  —  the  melancholy  procession  of  human  suf- 
ferings. Around  the  former,  adulation,  visits  and 


26  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

loud  professions  of  friendship ;  around  the  others* 
indifference,  solitude,  desertion.  People  of  the 
world  shun  the  poor  man  and  leave  him  out  of  all 
their  schemes,  either  because  they  fear  the  impor- 
tunity of  his  actual  or  silent  appeals,  or  because  they 
dread  the  sight  of  his  fearful  destitution,  as  a  re- 
proach to  themselves.  The  rich,  forming  themselves 
into  an  exclusive  circle  which  they  call  "good 
society,"  consider  all  outside  of  themselves  as  hav- 
ing only  as  it  were  a  secondary  existence,  unworthy 
of  their  attention  —  all  those  in  fact  who  do  not  be- 
long to  the  class  of  "  gentlemen."  When  they  em- 
ploy a  workman,  even  when  they  are  charitably 
disposed  and  succor  the  poor,  they  treat  him  as  a 
protege,  as  an  inferior.  They  do  not  act  towards 
him  with  that  simple  intimacy  with  which  they 
would  conduct  themselves  towards  one  of  their 
own  set.  With  the  exception  of  some  rare  chris- 
tians,  no  one  treats  the  poor  man  as  his  brother  or 
his  equal.  With  the  exception  of  the  Saints  — 
alas !  few  and  far  between  in  our  day  —  who  would 
ever  think  of  showing  him  the  respect  they  deem 
due  to  a  superior?  In  the  world,  properly  so 
called,  in  the  great  world  the  poor  man  is  absolutely 
forsaken.  Overwhelmed  with  the  weight  o~  labor, 
worn  out  with  want,  despised  and  abandoned,  would 
it  not  appear  as  though  he  were  cursed  by  the 
Creator  of  the  earth  ?  Ah !  it  is  just  the  contrary  ; 
he  is  the  beloved  one  of  the  universal  Father.  While 
the  World  has  been  cursed  for  ever  by  the  infallible 
word  of  Christ,  it  is  the  poor,  the  suffering,  thf 
iiumble,  the  insignificant  :vho  are  the  "  good  so- 
ciety "  in  the  eyes  of  Go  the  chosen  company  in 
which  his  heart  delighU  'Ye  are  my  friends,' 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  yj 

he  tells  them  in  his  Gospel.  He  does  more.  He 
identifies  himself  with  them  and  only  opens  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  to  the  rich  on  condition  of  their 
having  been  the  benefactors  of  the  poor.  "  Inas- 
much as  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these 
little  ones,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

So,  when  the  Son  of  God  came  upon  earth,  it  was 
His  will  to  be  born,  to  live  and  to  die  in  the  midst 
of  the  poor — to  be  Himself  poor.  It  was  from 
among  them  He  chose  his  Apostles,  his  principal 
disciples,  the  first-born  of  his  Church.  In  the  long 
history  of  that  Church,  it  was  upon  the  poor  that 
He  generally  poured  forth  his  choicest  spiritual 
graces.  In  all  ages  —  with  some  slight  exceptions 
—  Apparations,  Visions,  especial  Revelations,  have 
been  the  privilege  of  the  poor  and  little  ones  whom 
the  world  despises. 

When  God,  in  His  wisdom,  deems  fit  to  manifest 
himself  sensibly  to  men  by  these  mysterious  phe- 
nomena, He  descends,  as  do  the  kings  of  the  earth 
when  traveling,  into  the  houses  of  His  minuters  or 
of  His  particular  friends.  And  this  is  the  reason 
of  His  habitual  choice  of  the  dwellings  of  the  poor 
and  the  humble. 

For  nearly  two  thousand  years  past  has  the  word 
of  the  Apostle  been  verified,  "  God  hath  chosen 
what  is  weak  according  to  the  world  to  confound 
that  which  is  powerful." 

The  recital  undertaken  by  us  will  perhaps  furnish 
some  proof  of  these  high  truths. 

V. 

ON  the  nth  of  February,  1858,  was  inaugurated 


38  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

the  week  of  profane  enjoyments,  which,  according 
to  immemorial  custom,  precedes  the  austerities  of 
Lent.  The  weather  was  cold  and  somewhat  over- 
cast, but  very  calm.  The  clouds  remained  motion- 
less in  the  depths  of  heaven.  There  was  no  breeze 
to  agitate  them  and  the  atmosphere  was  entirelj 
still.  Occasionally  there  fell  a  few  drops  of  rain.  On 
that  day  the  diocese  of  Tarbes,  in  accordance  with 
the  peculiar  privileges  of  its  Proper  Office,  was 
celebrating  the  memory  and  the  feast  of  the  illustri- 
ous Sheperdess  of  Saint  Genevieve. 

It  was  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  by  the 
parish  church  of  Lourdes. 

While  joyful  assemblies  and  parties  were  almost 
everywhere  in  preparation,  a  poor  family,  lodged 
in  a  wretched  dwelling  in  the  Rue  Petits-fosses, 
had  not  even  wood  for  cooking  their  scanty  meal. 

The  father,  still  young,  was  a  miller  by  trade,  and 
had  for  a  short  time  kept  a  little  mill  situated  to  the 
north  of  the  town  on  one  of  the  streams  which  flow 
into  the  Gave.  This  business,  however,  required  a 
certain  amount  of  capital,  as  the  lower  classes  are  not 
in  the  habit  of  paying  ready  money  for  having  their 
corn  ground,  and  consequently  the  poor  miller  had 
been  obliged  to  relinquish  the  little  mill,  where  his 
exertions,  instead  of  placing  him  in  easy  circum- 
stances, had  served  only  to  plunge  him  into  deeper 
poverty  Waiting  for  better  days  he  worked  hard 
—  not  at  home,  for  he  had  nothing  in  the  world,  not 
even  a  small  garden  —  but  all  around,  for  some  of 
his  neighbors,  who  employed  him  from  time  to  time 
as  a  day-laborer. 

His  name  was  Francois  Soubirous,  and  he  was 
married  to  a  very  -espectable  woman,  Louise  Cas- 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDEb.  2g 

terot,  who  was  a  good  Christian  and  kept  up  the 
courage  of  her  husband. 

They  had  four  children,  two  girls,  the  eldest  ^f 
them  being  about  fourteen  years  old,  and  two  boys 
much  younger ;  the  last  born  being  between  three 
and  four  years  old. 

It  was  only  within  the  last  fortnight  that  their 
eldest  daughter,  a  weakly  child,  had  been  living 
under  the  same  roof  with  them.  This  is  the  little 
girl  destined  to  take  an  important  part  in  our  nar- 
ration, and  we  have  carefully  studied  all  the  pecu 
liarities  and  details  of  her  life. 

At  her  birth,  her  mother,  then  very  much  out  of 
health,  had  been  unable  to  suckle  her,  and  had 
placed  her  out  to  nurse  in  a  neighboring  village, 
Bartr^s,  where  the  infant  remained  after  being 
weaned.  Louise  Soubirous  had  become  a  mother 
for  the  second  time ;  and  the  care  of  two  children 
at  the  same  time,  would  have  detained  her  at 
home,  and  prevented  her  from  going  out  to  daily 
labor  in  the  fields,  which,  however,  she  could  easily 
do  as  long  as  she  only  had  one  child  at  the  breast 
For  this  reason  the  parents  allowed  their  eldest 
to  remain  at  Dartres.  They  paid  five  francs  a 
month  for  her  board,  sometimes  in  money,  but 
more  frequently  in  kind. 

When  the  little  girl  was  old  enough  to  make 
herself  useful,  and  there  was  some  idea  of  taking 
her  back  to  her  parent's  house,  the  good  pea- 
sants, who  had  brought  her  up,  perceived  that 
they  had  formed  a  strong  attachment  to  her,  and 
regarded  her  almost  as  one  of  their  own  children. 
From  that  day  they  kept  her  without  charge,  and 
employed  her  in  tending  their  sheep.  Thus  she 


30  OVR  LADY   OF  LOURDES. 

grew  up  in  the  midst  of  the  family  which  had 
adopted  her,  passing  all  her  days  in  solitude  on 
the  lonely  declivities,  where  her  humble  flock 
grazed. 

Her  knowledge  of  prayers  was  entirely  confined 
to  the  Chaplet.  Either  because  her  foster-mother 
had  recommended  this  to  her,  or  because  it  was 
the  simple  want  of  her  innocent  soul,  everywhere 
and  at  all  times,  while  engaged  in  watching  her 
flock,  she  was  in  the  habit  of  reciting  this  prayer 
of  the  simple.  In  addition  to  this,  she  amused  her- 
self quite  alone  with  those  natural  play-things, 
which  motherly  providence  provides  for  the  chil- 
dren of  the  poor,  who,  in  this  respect,  as  indeed  in 
all  others,  are  more  easily  satisfied  than  those 
of  the  rich.  She  used  to  play  with  stones,  which 
she  piled  up  in  little  childish  buildings;  with  the 
plants  and  flowers  which  she  gathered  here  and 
there ;  with  the  water  of  the  brook,  into  which  she 
threw  immense  fleets  of  blades  of  grass,  following 
them  with  her  eye  as  they  floated  downwards,  and 
lastly,  with  the  lamb  which  was  the  object  of  her 
preference  in  the  flock  intrusted  to  her  care.  "  Of 
all  my  lambs,"  she  said  one  day,  "  there  is  one  1 
love  more  than  all  the  rest."  "  And  which  is  that," 
she  was  asked.  "  The  one  I  love,"  she  replied,  "  is 
the  smallest ,  "  and  it  was  her  greatest  pleasure  to 
caress  it  in  frolicsome  sport. 

Compared  with  other  children,  she  was  herself 
like  this  poor  little  feeble  lamb  which  she  loved. 
Although  she  had  already  attained  her  fourteenth 
year,  you  would  have  never  supposed  her  to  be 
more  than  eleven  or  twelve.  She  was  subject  to 
an  oppressive  asthma,  which,  without  rendering 


OlTlt  J.ADY  OF  LOUHDE&  31 

her  absol  itely  sickly,  caused  her  sometimes  great 
suffering.  She  bore  her  misfortune  patiently,  and 
accepted  her  physical  pains  with  that  tranquil 
resignation  which  appears  so  difficult  to  the  rich, 
but  which  the  poor  seem  to  find  naturally  and 
without  effort. 

In  this  innocent  and  lonely  school,  the  poor 
shepherd-girl  learned,  perhaps,  what  is  to  the 
world  unknown :  the  simplicity,  which  is  so  pleas- 
ing to  God.  Far  removed  from  the  contagion 
of  impurity,  ever  communing  with  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  passing  her  time  and  her  hours  in  crowning 
Her  with  prayers  while  telling  her  beads,  she  pre- 
served that  entire  candor,  that  baptismal  purity, 
which  the  breath  of  the  world,  even  among  the 
best,  so  soon  tarnishes. 

Such  was  the  soul  of  this  child,  limpid  and  peace- 
ful as  those  unknown  lakes  vhich  are  buried  in  the 
midst  of  lofty  mountains,  and  in  which  all  the  splen- 
dors of  heaven  are  silently  reflected.  "  Blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart,"  says  the  Gospel,  "  for  they  shall 
see  God." 

These  great  gifts  are  hidden  gifts,  and  the  humil- 
ity which  possesses  them  is  often  unconscious  of 
them.  The  young  maiden  had  now  reached  her 
fourteenth  year,  and  if  all  those  who  accidentally 
came  in  contact  with  her  felt  themselves  attracted 
towards,  and  secretly  fascinated  by  her,  she  was 
herself  entirely  unconscious  of  it.  She  regarded 
herselt  as  one  of  the  last,  and  the  most  backward 
Children  of  her  age,  and  in  point  of  fact,  she  could 
neither  read  nor  write.  In  addition  to  this  she  was 
wholly  unacquainted  with  the  French  language,  and 
Knew  nothing  but  her  own  poor  Pyrenean  patois. 


32  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

She  had  never  been  taught  the  catechism,  and  in 
this  respect  her  ignorance  was  extreme.  "  Our 
Father,  Hail  Mary,  I  believe  in  God,  Glory  be  to 
the  Father"  recited  in  the  course  of  the  Chaplet, 
constituted  the  extent  of  her  religious  knowledge. 

After  the  foregoing  details,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
add,  that  she  had  not  yet  made  her  first  com- 
munion. In  was  in  fact  with  the  view  of  preparing 
her  for  this,  and  sending  her  to  the  catechism  class, 
that  the  Soubirous  had  just  withdrawn  her  from 
the  retired  village,  where  her  foster-parents  resided, 
and  had  brought  her  to  their  own  house,  at 
Lourdes,  notwithstanding  their  exceeding  poverty. 

It  was  about  a  fortnight  since  she  had  returned 
to  the  dwelling  of  her  parents.  Her  mother  treated 
her  with  every  possible  care  and  attention,  as  her 
asthma  and  her  general  fragility  of  appearance 
caused  her  much  anxiety.  While  the  rest  of  the 
children  of  the  Soubirous  went  about  in  nothing 
but  their  sabots,  this  child  wore  stockings ;  while 
her  sister  and  brothers  were  always  running  about 
in  the  open  air,  she  was  almost  constantly  employed 
in  the  house.  The  poor  child  accustomed  to  be  in 
the  open  air,  would  have  preferred  going  out 

The  day  was  Shrove-Tuesday ;  it  had  struck 
eleven  o'clock,  and  these  poor  people  had  not  the 
wood  necessary  to  prepare  their  mid-day  meal. 

"  Go  and  gather  some  on  the  bank  of  the  Gave, 
or  on  the  common,"  said  the  mother  to  Marie,  her 
second  daughter. 

As  in  many  other  places,  the  poor  in  the  com- 
mune of  Lourdes,  possessed  the  right  of  picking  up 
any  dry  branches  which  the  wind  might  have 
blown  down  from  the  trees,  and  any  dead  wood 


OUR  LAD 7  OF  LOURDES.  35 

which  might  have  been  washed  down  by  a  flood, 
and  left  among  the  rocks  along  the  course  of  the 
river. 

Marie  put  on  her  sabots,  an  operation  which  her 
elder  sister,  of  whom  we  have  just  been  speaking, 
the  little  shepherd-girl  of  Dartres,  regarded  with 
envy. 

"  Allow  me  to  follow  her,"  she  said  to  her  mother, 
"  I  will  also  bring  back  my  little  bundle  of  wood." 

"  No,"  answered  Louise  Soubirous :  you  have  a 
cough,  and  it  would  make  you  worse." 

In  the  mean  time,  a  young  girl  from  the  next 
house,  Jeanne  Abadie,  about  fifteen  years  old,  had 
entered,  and  volunteered  to  go  with  them  to  pick 
up  some  wood.  They  all  joined  in  urging  the 
mother  to  give  the  required  permission,  and  at 
length  she  consented. 

The  child  at  the  moment  had  a  handkerchief 
wrapped  round  her  head  and  knotted  on  the  side  as 
is  the  custom  with  the  peasant  women  in  the  South. 
This  did  not  appear  sufficient  to  the  mother. 

"  Take  your  capulet"  she  said  to  her. 

The  capulet  is  a  very  graceful  article  of  dress, 
peculiar  to  the  races  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  partakes 
of  the  nature  of  the  kerchief  and  the  mantle.  It  is 
a  kind  of  hood,  of  very  coarse  cloth,  sometimes 
white  as  the  fleece  of  a  sheep,  sometimes  of  a 
bi  illiant  scarlet,  which  covers  the  head  and  falls  back 
over  the  shoulders,  as  far  down  as  the  loins.  When 
the  weather  is  very  cold  or  windy,  the  women  bring 
it  in  Iront,  and  carefully  envelope  in  it  their  neck 
and  arms.  When  they  find  it  too  warm  for  this 
garment,  they  fold  it  up  square,  and  carry  it  on 
their  heads,  like  a  kind  of  quadrangular  berrtt. 


34  OUR  LADY   OF  LOUIWE8. 

T\  e  capulet  of  the  little  shepherd-girl  of  Dartre* 
was  white. 


VI. 

THE  three  children  soon  left  the  town  behind 
them,  and  crossing  the  bridge,  reached  the  left 
bank  of  the  Gave.  They  passed  by  the  mill  of 
M.  de  Laffitte,  and  gaining  the  He  du  Chalet,  sought 
here  and  there  for  small  fragments  of  wood,  in  or- 
der to  make  a  little  faggot. 

By  degrees  they,  descended  the  meadow,  follow- 
ing the  course  of  the  Gave.  The  frail  child,  to 
whom  the  mother  had  hesitated  in  granting  pei- 
mission  to  leave  the  house,  walked  somewhat  iu 
the  rear.  Less  fortunate  than  her  two  companions 
she  had  not  yet  found  anything,  and  her  apron  was 
empty,  while  her  sister  and  Jeanne  were  already 
furnished  with  a  little  load  of  chips  and  suval1 
branches. 

Clad  in  a  worn-out  and  patched  black  dress,  her 
delicate  visage  framed  in  the  white  capulet  which 
covered  her  head,  and  fell  back  on  her  shoulders,with 
coarse  sabots  on  her  feet,  she  displayed  an  innocent 
and  rustic  grace  which  charmed  the  heart  even 
more  than  the  eye. 

She  was  short  for  her  age.  Although  her  child- 
ish features  were  somewhat  tanned  by  the  sun,  they 
had  lost  nothing  of  their  native  delicacy.  Her  hair, 
black  and  soft,  was  almost  concealed  by  her  ker- 
chief. Her  brow,  which  was  tolerably  lofty,  was 
marked  by  lines  of  incomparable  purity.  Under 
her  well-arched  eyebrows,  her  brown  eyes  --SMT  eefer 
in  l.er  even  than  blue — possessed  a  calm  aud  pro 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOVRDES.  35 

found  beauty,  whose  magnificent  limpidity  had 
never  been  troubled  by  any  evil  passion.  It  was 
the  sirrple  eye  spoken  of  in  the  Gospel.  The 
mouth,  wonderfully  expressive,  served  as  the  index 
of  a  soul  in  which  habitual  goodness  and  compas- 
sion for  suffering  of  every  kind  held  undisputed 
sway. 

Her  physiognomy  was  pleasing,  owing  to  its 
sweetness  and  intelligence,  and  her  whole  person 
possessed  an  extraordinary  attraction,  which  sensi- 
bly affected  the  most  elevated  regions  of  the  soul. 
What  then  was  this  attraction.  I  was  going  to 
say  this  ascendancy,  and  this  secret  authority  in 
this  poor  ignorant  child  clothed  in  rags.  It  was 
the  greatest  and  the  rarest  thing  in  the  world — the 
Majesty  of  Innocence. 

We  have  not  yet  told  her  name.  Her  Patron  was 
a  great  Doctor  of  the  Church — whose  genius  shel- 
tered itself  more  especially  under  the  protection  of 
the  Mother  of  God — the  author  of  the  Memorare, 
"  Remember,  O  most  pious  Virgin  Mary,"  the  ad- 
mirable Saint  Bernard.  However,  in  accordance 
with  a  custom  which  is  not  without  its  charm,  the 
great  name  given  to  this  humble  peasant  girl  had 
taken  a  child-like  and  rustic  form,  The  little  girl 
bore  a  pretty  name,  graceful  like  herself — she  was 
called  Bernadette. 

She  followed  her  sister  and  her  companion  along 
the  meadow  by  the  mill  and  searched,  but  in  vain, 
among  the  grass  for  some  morsels  of  wood  for  the 
hearth  at  home. 

Such  must  have  been  the  appearance  of  Ruth, 
or  of  Naomi,  going  to  glean  in  the  fields  of 
Boaz. 


36  OVR  LADY  OF  LOUJWBS. 

VII. 

THE  three  girls,  strolling  in  this  manner,  had 
reached  the  end  of  the  lie  du  Chalet,  directly  op- 
posite iaz  triple  excavation  forming  the  Grotto  of 
Massabielle,  which  we  have  endeavored  to  describe. 
They  were  only  separated  from  it  by  the  course  of 
the  mill-stream,  which  was  ordinarily  very  consid- 
erable, and  which  bathed  the  feet  of  the  rocks. 

Now,  it  happened  that  on  that  very  day,  the  mill 
of  Savy  was  undergoing  repairs,  and  the  water 
had  been  turned  off  as  much  as  possible  above 
The  canal  was,  consequently,  very  easy  to  cross, 
though  not  altogether  dry,  and  the  channel  was  ex- 
ceedingly  narrow. 

Branches  of  dead  wood  fallen  from  the  various 
wild  trees  and  shrubs  which  grew  in  the  fissures  of 
the  rock  were  thickly  scattered  over  this  lonely  spot, 
which  the  accidental  drainage  of  the  canal  rendered 
more  easy  of  access  at  the  moment  than  was  usu- 
ally the  case. 

Delighted  with  this  fortunate  discovery,  and  as 
active  and  diligent  as  Martha  in  the  Gospel,  Jeanne 
and  Marie  quickly  took  off  their  wooden  sabots  and 
forded  the  little  stream. 

"  The  water  is  very  coid "  they  observed,  on 
reaching  the  opposite  bank  and  putting  on  their  sa- 
bots again. 

It  was  the  month  of  February,  and  these  torrents 
from  the  mountain,  freshly  issuing  from  the  eternal 
snows  to  which  they  owe  their  source,  are  usually 
of  an  icy  temperature. 

Bernadette  less  active  or  less  eager,  and  being  be- 
aider  *ar  from  robust,  was  still  on  this  side  of  the 


OUR  LAD 7   OF  LOURDE8.  y 

jttlc  stream.  The  idea  of  fording  this  feeble  chan« 
nel  was  quite  embarrassing  to  her.  She  had  also  to 
take  off  her  stockings,  while  Marie  and  Jeanne  wore 
nothing  but  sabots  ;  and,  hearing  the  exclamation  of 
her  companions,  she  feared  the  coldness  of  the  wa« 
ter. 

"  Throw  two  or  three  large  stones  into  the  mid 
die  of  the  stream,"  she  said  to  them,  "  so  that  I 
may  pass  over  without  wetting  my  feet." 

The  two  gleaners  of  wood  were  already  arrang- 
ing their  little  fagot  and  did  not  care  to  lose  any 
time  in  suspending  their  operations. 

"  Do  as  we  did,"  answered  Jeanne  ;  "  go  in  bare- 
footed." 

Bernadette  submitted,  and  leaning  against  a  frag- 
ment of  rock  which  was  there,  began  to  take  off 
her  shoes  and  stockings.  It  was  about  noon,  and  the 
Angelus  might  sound  at  any  moment  from  all  the 
towers  of  the  Pyrenean  villages. 

VIII. 

SHE  was  engaged  in  taking  off  her  first  stocking 
when  she  heard  around  her  as  it  were,  the  sound  of 
a  blast  of  wind,  rising  in  the  meadow-tract  with  an 
indescribable  character  of  irresistible  might. 

She  believed  it  to  be  a  sudden  hurricane,  and 
turned  herself  round  instinctively.  To  her  great 
surprise,  the  poplars  which  border  the  Gave  were 
perfectly  motionless.  Not  the  slightest  breeze  stir- 
red  their  still  branches. 

"  I  must  have  been  deceived,"  she  said  to  herself. 
As  she  thought  again  about  this  noise,  she  did  not 
know  what  to  believe. 


38  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEH 

She  \v  jan  once  more  to  remove  her  shoes  and 
stockings. 

At  this  moment,  the  impetuous  roaring  of  this 
unknown  Mast  became  audible  afresh. 

Bernadette  raised  her  head,  gazed  in  front  of  her, 
and  uttered,  or  rather  strove  to  utter,  a  loud  cry, 
which  was  stifled  in  her  throat.  She  shuddered  in 
all  her  limbs,  and  confounded,  dazzled,  and  crushed 
in  a  certain  manner  by  what  she  saw  before  her, 
she  sank  down,  bowed  herself  entirely  to  the  earth 
and  fell  on  both  knees. 

A  truly  unheard-of  spectacle  had  just  met  her 
gaze.  The  narration  of  the  child  ;  the  innumerable 
interrogations  which  a  thousand  sharp-sighted  and 
inquisitive  minds  have  put  to  her  since  that  period  ; 
the  precise  and  minute  particularities  into  which  so 
many  intellects  on  the  watch  for  discrepancies  have 
forced  her  t5  descend,  allow  us  to  trace — with  a 
hand  as  sure  of  each  detail  as  of  the  general  physi- 
ognomy— the  wonderful  and  astounding  portrait  of 
the  marveled  s  Being  who  appeared  at  that  instant 
to  the  eyes  oi  the  terrified  and  transported  Berna- 
dette. 


IX. 


ABOVE  the  Grotto,  in  front  of  which  Marie  and 
Jeanne,  eagerly  bending  to  the  ground  were  picking 
up  pieces  of  dead  wood,  in  the  rustic  niche  formed 
by  the  rock,  a  woman  of  incomparable  splendor 
stood  upright,  in  the  midst  of  a  superhuman  bright- 
ness. 

The  ineffable  light  which  floated  around  her  nei- 
ther pained  nor  distressed  the  eyes,  as  doef  the  briL 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  35 

Kancy  of  sunshine.  Far  from  this  being  the  case, 
this  aureole,  intense  as  a  pencil  of  rays,  and  calm  as 
a  profundity  of  shade,  invincibly  attracted  the  gaze, 
which  seemed  to  bathe  itself  in  it  and  rest  on  it  with 
exquisite  delight !  It  was,  like  the  morning  star, 
light  combined  with  coolness.  There  was,  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  nothing  vague  or  vaporous  in  the  Ap- 
parition herself.  She  had  not  the  transitory  form 
of  a  fantastic  vision,  she  was  a  living  reality,  a  hu- 
man body  which  the  eye  pronounced  palpable,  like 
the  flesh  of  us  all,  and  which  only  differed  from  an 
ordinary  person  by  its  aureole  and  its  divine  beauty 
She  was  of  middle  height.  She  appeared  to  be 
quite  young,  and  had  the  grace  of  the  age  of  twen- 
ty years.  But,  without  losing  aught  of  its  tender 
delicacy,  this  lustre,  so  fleeting  in  time,  had  in  her 
the  stamp  of  eternity,  Further,  in  her  features  so 
divinely  marked,  there  were  mingled  in  some  sort, 
but  without  disturbing  their  harmony,  the  succes- 
sive and  distinct  beauties  of  the  four  seasons  of  hu- 
man life.  The  innocent  candor  of  the  Child,  the 
absolute  purity  of  the  Virgin,  the  tender  serious- 
ness of  the  highest  of  Maternities,  and  Wisdom  su- 
perior to  that  of  all  accumulated  ages,  were  sum- 
med up  and  melted  into  each  other,  without  injur- 
ing the  effect  of  each  in  this  marvelous  countenance 
of  youthful  womanhood.  To  what  can  we  com- 
pare it  in  this  fallen  world,  where  the  rays  of  the 
beautiful  are  scattered,  broken  and  tarnished,  and 
where  they  never  appear  to  us  without  some  im- 
pure admixture?  Any  image,  any  comparison 
would  be  a  degradation  of  this  unutterable  type. 
N  )  majesty  existing  in  the  universe,  no  distinction 
oi  this  world,  no  simplicity  here  below,  could  con« 


40  OUR  LA'DY  OF  LOUliDES. 

vey  any  idea  of  it  or  assist  us  to  comprehend  it 
better.  It  is  not  with  earthly  lamps  that  we  can 
can  render  visible,  and,  so  to  say,  light  up  the  stars 
of  heaven. 

Even  the  regularity  and  the  ideal  purity  of  these 
features,  in  which  nothing  clashed,  shields  them 
from  any  attempt  at  description.  Need  we  how- 
ever  say,  that  the  oval  curve  of  the  countenance 
was  infinitely  graceful ;  that  the  eyes  were  blue  and 
so  sweet  that  the}''  seemed  to  melt  the  heart  of  ev- 
ery one  upon  whom  they  turned  their  gaze  ?  The 
lips  breathed  forth  divine  goodness  and  kindness 
The  brow  seemed  to  contain  supreme  wisdom,  that 
is  to  say,  the  union  of  omniscience  with  boundless 
virtue. 

Her  garments  of  an  unknown  texture,  and  doubt- 
less woven  in  the  mysterious  loom  which  furnishes 
attire  for  the  lilies  of  the  valley,  were  white  as  the 
stainless  mountain  snow,  and  more  magnificent  in 
*heir  simplicity  than  the  gorgeous  robe  of  Solomon 
in  all  his  glory.  Her  robe,  long  and  training,  fall- 
ing in  chaste  folds  around  her,  suffered  her  feet  to 
appear  reposing  on  the  rock,  and  lightly  pressing 
the  branches  of  the  wild  rose  which  trailed  there. 
On  each  of  them  in  their  virgin  nudity  there  ex- 
panded the  mystic  rose  of  a  bright,  golden  color. 

In  front,  a  girdle — blue  as  the  heavens — was  knot- 
ted half-way  round  her  body  and  fell  in  two  long 
bands  reaching  within  a  short  distance  of  her  feet. 
Behind,  a  white  veil  fixed  around  her  head  and  en- 
veloping in  its  ample  folds,  her  shoulders  and  the 
upper  part  of  her  arms,  descended  as  far  as  the  hem 
of  her  robe. 

She  wore  neither  rings,  nor  necklace,  nor  diadem. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  41 

nor  jewels  of  any  description ;  none  of  those  orna- 
ments with  which  human  vanity  has  decorated  it- 
self in  all  ages.  A  chaplet,  with  beads  as  white  as 
drops  of  milk  strung  on  a  chain  of  the  golden  hue 
of  harvest,  hung  from  her  hands,  which  were  fer- 
vently clasped.  The  beads  of  the  chaplet  glided 
one  after  the  other  through  her  fingers.  The  lips 
however  of  this  Queen  of  Virgins,  remained  mo- 
tionless. Instead  of  reciting  the  rosary,  she  was 
perhaps  listening  in  her  own  heart  to  the  eternal 
echo  of  the  Angelic  Salutation,  and  to  the  vast  mur- 
mur of  the  invocations  coming  from  the  earth. 

She  was  silent ;  but  later  her  own  words,  and  the 
miraculous  events  which  we  shall  have  to  recount, 
plainly  testified  that  She  was  the  Immaculate  Vir- 
gin, the  most  august  and  holy  Mary,  mother  of 
God. 

This  marvelous  apparition  gazed  on  Bernadette, 
who,  in  the  first  shock  of  amazement,  had,  as  we 
have  already  said,  sunk  down,  and  without  assign- 
ing any  reason  to  herself,  had  suddenly  prostrated 
herself  on  her  knees. 


X. 


THE  child,  in  tfie  first  moment  of  astonishment, 
had  seized  her  chaplet,  and  holding  it  between  her 
fingers,  wished  to  make  the  sign  of  the  Cross  and 
carry  her  hand  to  her  bosom.  But  she  trembled  to 
such  a  degree  that  she  had  not  the  faculty  of  rais- 
ing her  arm  ;  it  fell  powerless  on  her  bended  knees. 

Nolite  timere,  "  do  not  fear,"  said  Jesus  to  his  dis- 
ciples, when  he  came  to  them  walking  on  the  waves 
of  the  sea  of  Tiberias. 


42  OUR  LAD 7    OF  LOURDE8. 

The  fixed  gaze,  and  the  smile  of  the  incompara- 
ble Virgin,  seemed  to  say  the  same  thing  to  the  lit- 
tie,  terrified  shepherd-girl. 

With  a  grave  and  sweet  gesture,  which  had  the 
air  of  an  all-powerful  benediction  for  earth  and 
heaven,  she  herself  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  as 
with  the  view  of  re-assuring  the  child.  The  hand 
of  Bernadette,  raising  itself  by  degrees,  as  if  invisi- 
bly lifted  by  Her  who  is  called  the  Succor  of  Chris- 
tians, made  the  sacred  sign  at  the  same  moment. 

Ego  sum  :  nolite  timere.  "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid," 
said  Jesus  to  his  disciples. 

The  child  was  no  longer  afraid.  Dazzled,  fascin- 
ated, having  nevertheless  occasional  doubts  about 
icrself,  and  rubbing  her  eyes,  her  gaze  constantly 
attracted  by  this  celestial  apparition,  she  humbly 
recited  her  chaplet :  "  I  believe  in  God :  Hail, 
Mary,  full  of  Grace " 

At  the  moment  of  her  closing  it  by  singing, 
"  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  etc.,  etc.,  the  Virgin,  so  radiant 
with  light,  all  at  once  disappeared,  and  doubtless 
re-entered  the  eternal  Heavens,  the  abode  of  the 
Holy  Trinity. 

Bernadette  experienced  the  feeling  of  one  de- 
scending or  falling  from  a  great  height.  She  glanced 
around  her.  The  Gave  was  pursuing  its  murmur- 
ing course  over  the  pebbles  and  broken  rocks  ;  but 
its  murmur  seemed  to  her  hoarser  than  before,  the 
waters  more  sombre,  the  landscape  dull,  and  the 
light  of  the  sun  even  not  so  clear.  Before  her  were 
extended  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  beneath  which 
her  companions  were  busily  occupied  in  gathering 
morsels  of  wood.  Above  the  Grotto,  the  niche 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


43 


where  the  wild  rose  trailed  its  branches  was  always 
open;  but  nothing  unwonted  appeared  about  it, 
There  remained  in  it  no  trace  of  the  divine  visit, 
and  it  was  no  longer  the  Gate  of  Heaven. 

XL 

THE  scene  just  recounted  had  lasted  about  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour :  not  that  Bernadette  was  conscious 
of  the  exact  lapse  of  time,  but  she  was  enabled  to 
compute  it  by  the  fact  of  her  having  been  able  to 
recite  the  five  decades  of  her  chaplet. 

Bernadette  being  completely  restored  to  herself, 
finished  taking  off  her  shoes  and  stockings,  and 
fording  the  little  stream,  rejoined  her  companions. 
Absorbed  as  she  was  with  the  thought  of  what  she 
lad  just  seen,  she  no  longer  feared  the  coldness  of 
the  water.  All  the  childish  faculties  of  the  humbl* 
little  girl  were  concentrated  to  the  end  of  turning 
over  and  over  again  in  her  heart  the  remembrance 
of  this  unheard  of  vision. 

Jeanne  and  Marie  had  observed  her  falling  on 
her  knees  and  engaged  in  prayer ;  but  this,  thank 
God,  is  not  an  event  of  rare  occurrence  among  the 
children  of  the  Mountain,  and  being  occupied  in 
their  task,  they  had  not  paid  any  attention  to  the 
circumstance. 

Bernadette  was  surprised  at  the  complete  calm- 
ness of  her  sister  and  Jeanne,  who  having  just  then 
completed  their  work,  had  entered  the  Grotto  and 
had  commenced  to  play  as  if  nothing  extraordinary 
had  taken  place. 

"  Have  you  seen  nothing  ?"  asked  she.  They  then 
remaiked  that  she  appeared  agitated  and  excited. 


44  OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDEB. 

"  No,**  they    replied.      "  Have    you    seen    any 
thing?" 

Whether  the  youthful  Seer  feared  to  profane  what 
so  entirely  filled  her  mind,  by  repeating  it,  or  wish- 
ed to  digest  it  in  silence,  or  was  restrained  by  some 
feeling  of  timidity,  it  is  difficult  to  say ;  but  she 
obeyed  that  seemingly  instinctive  necessity  of  hum- 
ble minds  to  conceal,  as  if  a  treasure,  the  peculiar 
graces  with  which  God  has  favored  them. 

"  If  you  have  seen  nothing,"  she  rejoined,  "  I  have 
nothing  to  tell  you." 

The  little  fagots  were  soon  arranged  and  the 
three  girls  started  on  their  return  to  Lourdes. 

Bernadette,  however,  had  not  been  able  to  dis- 
simulate the  troubled  state  of  her  mind.  While  on 
the  way  home,  Marie  and  Jeanne  urged  her  to  tell 
them  what  she  had  seen.  The  little  shepherd-girl 
gave  way  to  their  entreaties,  having  previously  ex- 
acted a  promise  of  secrecy. 

"  I  have  seen,"  she  said,  "  something  clothed  in 
white  "  and  she  described  to  them,  in  the  best  lan- 
guage she  could,  her  marvelous  vision. 

"  Now  you  know  what  I  have  seen,"  she  said  at 
the  termination  of  her  narration ;  "  but  I  beg  of 
you  not  to  say  anything  about  it." 

Marie  and  Jeanne  had  no  doubts  on  the  subject. 
The  soul,  in  its  first  purity  and  innocence,  is  natu- 
rally prone  to  belief,  and  doubt  is  not  the  fault  of 
simple  childhood.  Beside,  the  .ouching  and  sin- 
cere accents  of  Bernadette,  who  was  still  agitated 
and  deeply  impressed  by  what  she  had  seen,  sway- 
ed them  irresistibly.  Marie  and  Jeanne  did  not 
doubt,  but  they  were  terrified.  The  children  of  the 
poor  are  always  timid.  This  may  be  easily  ex- 


45 

plained,  from  the  fact  that  suffering  reaches  them 
from  all  quarters. 

"  It  is,  perhaps,  something  to  do  us  harm,"  they 
observed.  "  Do  not  let  us  go  there  again,  Berna- 
dette." 

The  confidantes  of  the  little  shepherd  -  girl  had 
scarcely  reached  home  when  they  found  them- 
selves unable  to  keep  the  secret  any  longer.  Marie 
related  all  the  circumstances  to  her  mother. 

"  It  is  all  nonsense,"  said  the  mother.  "  What  is 
this  your  sister  tells  me  ?"  she  continued,  interroga- 
ting Bernadette. 

The  latter  re-commenced  her  narration  and  her 
mother  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  You  are  deceived.  It  was  nothing  at  all.  You 
fancied  you  saw  something  and  have  seen  nothing. 
It  is  mere  folly  and  nonsense." 

Bernadette  persisted  in  what  she  had  said. 

"  At  all  events,"  rejoined  the  mother,  "  do  not  go 
there  any  more.  I  forbid  you  to  do  so." 

This  prohibition  weighed  heavily  on  the  heart  of 
Bernadette  ;  for  since  the  Apparition  had  vanished 
it  had  been  her  greatest  wish  to  see  it  again.  How- 
ever, she  submitted  and  made  no  reply. 

XII 

Two  days,  the  Wednesday  and  Thursday  passed 
away.  This  extraordinary  event  was  never  for  a 
moment  absent  from  the  thoughts  of  Bernadette, 
and  formed  the  constant  subject  of  her  conversa- 
tions with  her  sister  Marie,  Jeanne  and  some  other 
children.  The  remembrance  of  the  celestial  Vision 
in  all  its  sweetness,  was  still  in  the  depths  of  Ber- 


46  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

nadette's  soul.  A  passion — if  we  may  use  a  word 
so  often  profaned  to  designate  so  pure  a  sentiment — 
had  sprung  up  in  the  heart  of  the  innocent  little 
girl :  the  ardent  desire  of  again  seeing  the  incom- 
parable Lady.  The  name  of  "  Lady,"  was  the  one 
she  had  given  her  in  her  rustic  language.  How- 
ever, when  any  one  asked  her  whether  this  Appa- 
rition bore  any  resemblance  to  any  lady  she  might 
see  in  the  street  or  in  the  church,  to  any  one  of  those 
celebrated  for  their  exceeding  beauty  throughout 
the  country,  she  shook  her  head  and  smiled  sweetly : 

"  Nothing  of  all  this  gives  you  any  idea  of  it," 
she  answered.  "  The  beauty  she  possesses  is  not 
to  be  expressed  by  language." 

It  was,  therefore,  her  great  desire  to  see  her 
once  more.  The  minds  of  ehe  other  children  were 
divided  between  fear  and  curiosity. 

XIII. 

THE  sun  rose  bnghtly  on  the  Sunday  morning, 
and  the  weather  was  splendid.  There  are  often  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Pyrenees,  days  warm  and  mild, 
like  those  of  spring,  which  seem  to  have  strayed 
into  the  lap  of  winter. 

On  returning  from  Mass,  Bernadette  begged  her 
sister  Marie,  Jeanne  and  some  other  girls,  to  urge 
her  mother  to  remove  her  prohibition  and  to  per- 
mit them  to  re-visit  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle. 

"  Perhaps  it  is  something  wicked,"  said  the  chil- 
dren. 

Bernadette  replied  that  she  could  not  believe 
such  to  be  the  case,  as  she  had  never  seen  a  coun- 
tenance of  such  marvelous  goodness. 


OUR   TADT  OF  LOUBDS8.  47 

u  At  all  events,"  rejoined  the  little  girls,  who, 
being  better  educated  than  the  poor  shepherd-girl 
of  Bartres,  knew  a  little  of  the  catechism — "  at  all 
events,  you  must  throw  some  holy  water  over  it. 
If  it  is  the  Devil,  he  will  depart.  You  shall  say  to  it, 
if  you  come  on  the  part  of  God,  approach ;  if  you 
come  from  the  Devil,  depart." 

This  was  not  precisely  the  formulary  for  exor 
cism ;  but  in  point  of  fact  these  little  theologians  oi 
Lourdes  reasoned  on  the  case  with  as  much  pru- 
dence and  discretion  as  any  Doctor  in  the  Sor- 
bonne. 

It  was  therefore  carried  in  this  youthful  council, 
to  take  some  holy  water  with  them.  Besides,  in 
consequence  of  all  these  conversations,  a  certain 
amount  of  apprehension  had  entered  the  mind  of 
Bernadette. 

Nothing  remained  now  but  to  obtain  permission. 
The  children  demanded  this  in  a  body  after  the 
mid-day  repast.  The  mother  was  at  first  unwilling 
to  grant  their  request,  alleging  that  as  the  Gave 
flowed  by  and  washed  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle, 
their  going  there  might  be  attended  with  danger; 
that  the  hour  of  Vespers — which  they  must  on  no 
account  miss — was  near  at  hand,  and  that  all  this 
story  was  childish.  But  we  know  how  difficult  it 
is  to  resist  the  prayers  and  entreaties  of  a  troop  of 
children.  All  promised  prudence,  expedition  and 
good  behavior  and  the  Mother  ended  by  giving 
way. 

The  -ittle  group  proceeded  to  the  Church  and 
devoted  a  few  moments  to  prayer.  One  of  Berna- 
aette's  companions  had  brought  with  her  a  pint 
oottle  which  was  duly  filled  with  holy  water. 


48  OUR  LAD7   OF  LOURDES. 

On  their  first  arrival  at  the  Grotto,  there  was  no 
manifestation  of  any  kind. 

"  Let  us  pray,"  said  Bernadette,  "  and  recite  the 
chaplet." 

The  children  accordingly  kneeled  down,  and 
commenced  to  recite  the  Rosary. 

All  at  once  the  countenance  of  Bernadette  ap- 
peared to  be  transfigured,  and  was  so  in  reality. 
An  extraordinary  emotion  was  depicted  on  her 
countenance,  and  her  glance,  more  brilliant  than 
usual,  seemed  to  inhale  a  divine  light. 

The  marvelous  apparition  had  just  become  mani- 
fest to  her  eyes ;  her  feet  resting  on  the  rock,  and 
clothed  as  on  the  former  occasion. 

"  Look !"  she  said  ;  "  she  is  there." 

Alas !  the  sight  of  the  other  children  was  not  mi- 
raculously released,  as  was  her  own,  from  the  veil 
of  flesh  which  hinders  us  from  distinguishing  spir- 
itualized bodies.  The  little  girls  perceived  naught 
but  the  solitary  rock  and  the  branches  of  the  wild 
rose  which  descended  in  a  thousand  wild  arabesques 
to  the  base  of  the  mysterious  niche,  in  which  Ber- 
nadette contemplated  an  unknown  Being. 

However,  the  expression  of  Bernadette's  coun- 
tenance was  of  such  a  nature,  as  to  leave  no  room 
for  doubt.  One  of  the  girls  placed  the  bottle  cf 
holy  water  in  the  hands  of  the  youthful  Seer. 

Then  Bernadette,  remembering  the  promise  she 
had  made,  rose,  and  shaking  the  little  bottle  briskly 
several  times,  sprinkled  the  marvelous  Lady,  who 
stood,  graciously,  a  few  paces  in  front  of  her  in  the 
Ulterior  of  the  niche. 

"  If  you  come  on  the  part  of  God,  approach," 
said  Bernadette. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


49 


At  these  words  and  actions  of  the  child,  the  Vir- 
gin bowed  several  times  and  advanced  almost  to  the 
edge  of  the  rock.  She  appeared  to  smile  at  the  pre- 
cautions and  hostile  weapons  of  Bernadette,  and  her 
countenance  lighted  up  at  the  sacred  name  of  God. 

"  If  you  come  on  the  part  of  God,  draw  near," 
repeated  Bernadette. 

But,  when  she  observed  her  beauty  so  gloriously 
brilliant  and  so  resplendent  with  celestial  goodness, 
she  felt  her  heart  fail  her  at  the  moment  of  adding 
— "  If  you  come  on  the  part  of  the  Devil,  depart." 
These  words  which  had  been  dictated  to  her  ap- 
peared monstrous  in  the  presence  of  this  incompar- 
able Being,  and  they  fled  forever  from  her  thought 
without  having  mounted  to  her  lips. 

She  prostrated  herself  afresh  and  continued  to  re- 
cite the  chaplet,  to  which  the  Virgin  appeared  to 
listen  as  her  own  beads  glided  through  her  fingers. 

At  the  close  of  this  prayer  the  Apparition  van- 
ished. 

XIV. 

ON  her  way  back  to  Lourdes,  Bemadette  wai 
filled  with  joy,  She  pondered  in  the  depth  ot  her 
soul  on  these  strikingly  extraordinary  events.  Her 
companions  experienced  a  kind  of  vague  terror. 
The  transfiguration  of  Bernadette's  countenance 
had  proved  to  them  the  reality  of  a  supernatural 
apparition.  Everything  that  exceeds  nature  is  a 
source  of  terror  to  it.  "  Depart  from  us,  Lord,  lest 
we  should  die,"  was  the  exclamation  of  the  Jews  in 
tne  Old  Testament. 

"  We  are  afraid,  Bernp^ette.  Let  us  not  return 
3 


jo  OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDE8. 

heie  again.  Perhaps  what  you  have  seen  comes  to 
do  us  harm,"  said  her  timid  companions  to  the 
youthful  Seer. 

The  children  returned,  according  to  promise,  in 
time  for  Vespers.  When  the  office  was  over,  the 
fineness  of  the  weather  attracted  many  of  the  in- 
habitants to  'prolong  their  walk  as  they  chatted  to- 
gether, enjoying  the  last  rays  of  the  sun,  so  mild  in 
these  splendid  winter  days.  The  story  of  the  little 
girls  circulated  here  and  there  among  these  various 
groups.  By  this  means,  a  rumor  of  these  strange 
events  began  to  be  spread  abroad  in  the  town.  The 
report,  which  at  first  had  only  agitated  a  humble 
knot  of  children,  grew  rapidly  in  proportion  like  a 
wave,  and  penetrated  from  one  to  another  into  the 
masses  of  the  population.  The  quarriers,  very  nu- 
merous in  that  part  of  the  country,  the  seamstress- 
es, the  artisans,  the  peasants,  the  female  servants, 
the  nurses,  the  poorer  classes  in  general,  talked  of 
this  asserted  apparition  among  themselves — some 
believing,  others  disputing  it ;  some  only  laughing 
at  it,  while  many  exaggerated  it.  With  one  or  two 
exceptions,  the  bourgeoisie  did  not  even  take  the 
trouble  of  thinking  for  a  moment  about  such  child- 
ish stories. 

Singularly  enough,  Bernadette's  father  and  moth- 
er, though  fully  convinced  of  their  child's  sincerity, 
regarded  the  Apparition  as  an  illusion. 

"  She  is  but  a  child,"  they  said.  "  She  fancied 
fche  saw  something,  but  she  has  not  seen  anything. 
It  is  only  the  imagination  of  a  young  girl." 

However,  the  extraordinary  preciseness  of  Ber- 
nadette's story  puzzled  them.  At  times,  carried 
away  by  the  earnestness  of  their  daughter,  they  felt 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  51 

themselves  shaken  in  their  incredulity.  Much  as 
they  wished  her  not  to  return  to  the  Grotto,  they  did 
not  venture  actually  to  forbid  her  doing  so. 

However,  she  did  not  return  there  until  the  fol- 
lowing Thursday. 

XV. 

DURING  the  first  days  of  the  week,  many  persons 
of  the  lower  classes  came  to  the  house  of  the  Sou- 
berous'  to  put  questions  to  Bernadette.  The  child's 
answers  were  clear  and  precise.  She  might  possi- 
bly be  laboring  under  an  illusion,  but  no  one  could 
see  her  or  hear  her  speak  without  being  convinced  of 
icr  good  faith.  Her  perfect  simplicity,  her  inno- 
cent youth,  and  the  irresistible  emphasis  of  her  lan- 
guage, something, — what  I  know  not,  in  all  this, — 
inspired  confidence,  and  most  frequently  produced 
conviction.  All  those  who  saw  her  and  conversed 
with  her,  were  entirely  convinced  of  her  veracity, 
and  fully  persuaded  that  somccning  very  extraor- 
dinary had  taken  place  at  the  Rocks  of  Massabi- 
elle. 

Ho v.  ever,  the  mere  declaration  of  a  little  igno- 
rant girl  could  not  suffice  to  establish  a  fact  so  en- 
tirely out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  things.     Strong 
er  proofs  were  necessary  than  the  word  of  a  child 

Besides,  what  was  the  nature  of  this  Apparition, 
even  granting  its  reality  ?  Was  it  a  spirit  of  light, 
or  an  angel  from  the  abyss  ?  Was  it  not  some  soul 
in  a  state  of  suffering  wandering  to  and  fro  and  de- 
manding the  prayers  of  others  ?  Or  further,  such 
or  such  a  one  who  had  died  long  ago  in  the  country 
ra  the  odor  of  piety,  and  whose  glory  was  now  be- 


52  OUR  LADT   OF  LOVRDES. 

mg  .Tiade  manifest?  Faith  and  superstition—each 
proposed  their  hypotheses. 

Might  it  have  been  the  funereal  ceremonies  of  Ash- 
Wednesday  which  served  to  incline  a  young  girl 
and  a  lady  of  Lourdes  to  one  of  these  solutions  ? 
Did  the  glittering  whiteness  of  the  attire  of  the  Ap- 
parition suggest  to  their  minds  the  idea  of  a  shroud 
and  a  phantom  ?  We  know  not.  The  young  girl 
was  called  Antoinette  Peyret,  a  member  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Children  of  Mary ;  the  other  was 
Madame  Millet. 

"  It  is  doubtless  some  soul  from  Purgatory  which 
entreats  for  Masses,"  thought  they. 

And  they  went  in  search  of  Bernadette. 

"  Ask  this  Lady  who  she  is  and  what  she  wishes," 
said  they  to  her.  "  Let  her  explain  this  to  you,  or, 
as  you  may  not  be  able  to  understand  her  well,  let 
her  commit  it  so  writing,  which  would  be  still  bet- 
ter." 

Bernadette,  who  was  strongly  urged  by  some  in- 
ternal impulse  to  re-visit  the  Grotto,  obtained  fresh 
permission  from  her  parents,  and  the  following 
morning  at  about  six  o'clock,  with  the  break  of 
dawn,  after  having  assisted  in  the  church  at  the 
half-past  five  o'clock  Mass,  she  proceeded  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  Grotto,  accompanied  by  Antoinette 
Peyret  and  Madame  Millet. 

XVI 

THE  repairs  of  M.  de  Lafitte's  mill  had  been  com- 
pleted, and  the  mill-stream  restored  to  its  usual 
channel,  so  that  it.  was  impossible  to  reach  their 
place  of  destination  by  He  du  Chalet,  as  had  been 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDBB.  53 

the  case  on  the  former  occasion.  It  was  necessary 
to  scale  the  side  of  the  Espelugnes,  taking  a  raiser- 
able  road  which  led  to  the  forest  of  Lourdes,  and 
then  descend  by  a  breakneck  path  to  the  Grotto,  in 
the  midst  of  the  rocks  and  steep  and  sandy  decliv- 
ity of  Massabielle. 

Bernadette's  companions  were  somewhat  afraid 
on  meeting  these  unexpected  difficulties.  She  her- 
self, on  the  contrary,  on  reaching  the  place  felt  her 
heart  thrill,  and  was  impatient  to  arrive  at  the  Grot- 
to. It  seemed  to  her  as  if  some  invisible  being  bore 
her  along  and  lent  her  unwonted  energy.  Though 
usually  so  frail,  she  felt  herself  strong  at  that  mo- 
ment. Her  step  became  so  rapid  in  ascending  the 
hill,  that  Antoinette  and  Madame  Millet,  strong  and 
young  as  they  were,  experienced  some  difficulty  in 
following  her.  Her  asthma  which  usually  obliged 
her  to  walk  slowly,  seemed  for  the  moment  to  have 
disappeared.  She  was  neither  out  of  breath  nor 
tired  when  she  reached  the  summit.  While  her 
companions  were  bathed  with  perspiration,  her  vis- 
age was  calm  and  tranquil.  She  descended  the 
rocks,  though  for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  with  the 
same  ease  and  activity,  being  conscious  as  it  were 
of  some  invisible  supporter  by  whom  she  was  guid- 
ed and  sustained.  On  these  almost  peaked  declivi- 
ties, in  the  midst  of  these  rolling  stones,  on  the 
edge  of  the  abyss,  her  step  was  as  firm  and  fearless 
as  if  she  had  been  walking  on  the  broad  and  level 
surface  of  a  high-road.  Madame  Millet  and  Antoi- 
nette did  not  venture  to  follow  her  at  this,  to  them, 
impossible  pace,  but  descended  slowly  and  cautious- 
ly, as  was  indeed  necessary  in  so  perilous  a  pal  a. 

Bernadette  accordingly  reached  the  Grotto  a  fc  • 


54  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 

moments  be^re  them.  She  prostrated  herself  and 
commenced  to  recite  her  chaplet,  gazing  at  the  same 
time  on  the  niche,  festooned  with  the  branches  of 
the  wild  rose,  which  was  still  empty. 

All  at  once  she  uttered  a  cry.  The  well-known 
brilliancy  of  the  aureola  began  to  shed  its  rays 
within  the  cavern.  A  voice,  which  called  her,  be- 
came audible.  The  marvelous  apparition  stood 
there  once  more  a  few  paces  above  her.  The  ad- 
mirable Virgin  inclined  her  head,  all-luminous  with 
eternal  serenity,  toward  the  child,  and  with  a  mo- 
tion of  her  hand  signed  to  her  to  draw  near. 

Just  at  this  moment  Bernadette's  two  companions. 
Antoinette  and  Madame  Millet,  arrived,  after  hav- 
ing  gone  through  the  most  painful  exertions.  They 
perceived  the  features  of  the  child  to  be  in  a  state 
of  ecstatic  transfiguration. 

She  heard  and  saw  them. 

"  She  is  there,"  she  said.  "  She  makes  a  sign  for 
me  to  advance." 

"  Ask  her  if  she  is  angry  at  our  being  with  you. 
Should  such  be  the  case,  we  will  retire." 

Bernadette  regarded  the  Virgin,  invisible  to  all 
save  herself,  listened  for  a  moment  and  turned  again 
toward  her  companions. 

"  You  may  remain,"  she  answered. 

The  two  women  kneeled  down  by  the  side  of  the 
child  and  lighted  a  wax  taper  which  they  had 
Drought  with  them. 

It  was  doubtless  the  first  time  since  the  creation 
of  the  world  that  a  light  of  the  kind  had  shone  in 
this  wild  spot.  This  act  so  simple,  which  seemed 
to  inaugurate  a  sanctuary,  had  in  itself  a  mysterious 
solemnity. 


OUR  LAD 7  OF  LOURDES. 


55 


Under  the  supposition  that  the  Apparition  was 
divine,  this  sign  of  visible  adoration,  this  lowly 
little  flame  lighted  by  two  poor  country  women, 
would  never  more  be  extinguished,  but  would  in- 
crease in  volume  from  day  to  day  through  the  long 
series  of  future  ages.  In  vain  would  the  breath  of 
incredulity  exhaust  itself  in  efforts,  in  vain  would 
the  storm  of  persecution  arise ;  this  flame,  fed  by 
the  faith  of  the  people  would  continue  to  mount  to- 
wards the  throne  of  God,  steady  and  inextinguish- 
able. While  these  rustic  hands,  doubtless  uncon- 
scious of  the  importance  of  the  act,  lighted  the 
flame  for  the  first  time  with  so  much  simplicity  in 
this  unknown  grotto  in  which  a  child  was  praying, 
the  dawn,  first  of  silvery  whiteness,  had  assumed 
successively  golden  and  purple  tints,  and  the  sun, 
which  despite  the  clouds,  was  shortly  to  inundate 
the  earth  with  his  light,  began  to  appear  from  be- 
hind the  crest  of  the  mountains. 

Bernadette  in  an  ecstacy  of  delight  contemplated 
the  faultless  beauty.  Tota  pulchra  es,  arnica  mea. 
et  macula  non  est  in  te. 

Her  companions  addressed  themselves  to  Berna- 
dette afresh. 

"  Advance  towards  Her  since  She  calls  you  and 
makes  signs  to  you.  Approach.  Demand  from 
Her  who  she  is,  and  why  She  comes  here?  Is  it  a 
soul  from  Purgatory  that  entreats  for  prayers  and 
would  have  Masses  said  for  it  ?  Beg  her  to  write 
on  this  piece  of  paper  what  She  wishes.  We  are 
disposed  to  do  all  she  desires,  all  that  may  be  ne- 
cessary for  her  repose." 

The  youthful  Seer  took  the  paper,  pen  and  ink 
handed  to  her  and  advanced  toward  the  Apparition, 


56  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

who  seeing  her  approach  encouraged  her  with  a 
Mother's  glance. 

However,,  at  each  step  which  the  cnild  took,  the 
Apparition  drew  back  by  degrees  into  the  interior 
of  the  cavern.  Bernadette  lost  sight  of  her  for  a 
moment  and  entered  under  the  vault  of  the  grotto 
from  below.  There,  always  above  her  but  much 
nearer  in  the  opening  of  the  niche,  she  saw  again 
the  radiant  Virgin. 

Bernadette,  holding  in  her  hands  the  writing  ma- 
terials which  had  just  been  given  her,  stood  on  tip- 
toe in  order  to  be  able  to  reach  with  her  tiny  arms 
the  height  where  the  supernatural  Being  was  stand- 
ing. 

Her  two  companions  also  advanced  with  the 
object  of  trying  to  hear  the  conversation  about  to 
be  engaged  in.  But  Bernadette  without  turning 
and  apparently  in  obedience  to  a  gesture  of  the  Ap- 
parition, signed  to  them  with  her  hand  not  to  ap- 
proach. Covered  with  confusion  they  retired  a 
little  on  one  side. 

"  O  Lady,"  said  the  child,  "  if  you  have  anything 
to  communicate  to  me,  would  you  have  the  kind- 
ness to  inform  me  in  writing  who  you  are  arid  what 
you  desire?" 

Th°  divine  Virgin  smiled  at  this  simple  request. 
Her  lips  opened  and  she  spoke. 

"  There  is  no  occasion,"  she  replied,  "  to  commit 
to  writing  what  I  have  to  tell  you.  Only  do  me 
the  favor  to  come  here  every  day  for  fifteen 
days." 

"  I  promise  you  this,"  exclaimed  Bernadette. 

The  Virgin  smiled  anew  and  made  a  sign  of  being 
tatisfied,  thereby  showing  her  entire  confidence  in 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  57 

the  word  of  this  poor  peasant-girl  who  was  but 
fourteen  years  old. 

She  knew  that  the  little  shepherd-girl  of  Bartrei 
was  like  those  pure  children  whose  fair  heads  Jesus 
loved  to  caress,  saying :  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven." 

She  also  replied  to  the  promise  of  Bernadette  by 
a  solemn  engagement. 

"  And  I,"  she  said,  "  I  promise  to  render  you 
happy,  not  in  this  but  in  the  other  world." 

Bernadette,  without  losing  sight  of  the  Appari- 
tion, returned  to  her  companions. 

She  remarked  that  the  Virgin  while  She  followed 
her  Herself  with  Her  eyes,  suffered  Her  gaze  to 
remain  for  upwards  of  a  moment  with  an  expression 
of  kindness  on  Antoinette  Peyret,  the  unmarried 
one  of  the  two,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Children  of  Mary.  She  repeated  to 
them  what  was  passing. 

"  She  is  gazing  on  you  at  *'  .is  moment,"  said  the 
youthful  Seer  to  Antoinef  . 

The  latter  was  deeply  npressed  by  these  words, 
and  since  that  time  has  jeen  living  on  this  souvenir. 

"  Ask  Her,"  said  they,  "  if  it  would  be  displeasing 
to  Her  if  we  were  to  accompany  you  here  every 
day  during  the  fifteen  days  ?  " 

Bernadette  put  the  question  to  the  Apparition. 

"  They  may  return  with  you,"  replied  the  Virgin, 
"  and  others  besides.  I  desire  to  see  many  persons 
here." 

In  saying  these  words  she  disappeared,  ^caving 
oehind  her  that  luminous  brightness  which  had  sur- 
rounded her,  and  which  itself  vanished  by  degrees. 

On  this  as  on  other  occasions  the  child  remarked 
3* 


58  QUR  LADT   OF  LOUEDBS. 

i  peculiarity  which  seemed  to  be  as  it  were  the  law 
of  the  aureole  with  which  the  Virgin  was  constantly 
surrounded. 

"  When  the  vision  takes  place,"  she  said  in  her 
way  of  speaking,  "  I  see  the  light  first  and  then  the 
'  Lady ' ;  when  the  vision  ceases  it  is  the  '  Lady 
that  disappears  first  and  the  light  afterwards." 


SECOND    BOOK. 
I. 

ON  her  return  to  Lourdes,  Bernadette  had  to  in. 
form  her  parents  of  the  promise  she  had  made  to 
the  mysterious  Lady,  and  of  the  fifteen  consecutive 
days  in  which  she  was  to  repair  to  the  Grotto.  On 
the  other  hand,  Antoinette  and  Madame  Millet  re- 
counted what  had  past,  the  marvelous  transfigura- 
tion of  the  child  during  her  ecstacy,  the  words  of  the 
Apparition  and  the  invitation  to  return  during  the 
Quinzaine.  The  rumor  of  these  strange  events 
spread  immediately  in  every  direction,  and,  being 
no  longer  confined  to  the  lower  classes,  threw  the 
whole  society  of  the  country,  from  very  different 
motives,  into  the  most  profound  state  of  agitation. 
This  Thursday,  i8th  of  February,  1858,  was  mar- 
ket day  at  Lourdes.  As  usual,  the  attendance  was 
numerous,  so  that,  the  same  evening,  the  news  ot 
Bernadette 's  visions,  whether  true  or  false,  was  dis- 
persed in  the  mountains  and  valleys,  at  Bagneres, 
Tarbes,  Cautarets,  Saint  P6,  nay,  in  al1  directions 
in  the  Department,  and  in  the  nearest  ^owns  of 
Bdarn.  On  the  morrow,  about  a  hundred  persons 
we/?  assembled  at  the  Grotto  at  the  moment  of 
Beniadette's  arrival.  The  following  day,  there 

159) 


fo  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

were  not  less  than  four  or  five  hundred  ;  and,  on 
Sunday  morning,  the  crowd  collected  was  computed 
at  several  thousands. 

And  yet,  what  did  they  see  ?  What  did  they 
hear  under  these  wild  rocks  ?  Nothing,  absolutely 
nothing,  save  a  poor  child  praying,  who  claimed  to 
see,  and  who  claimed  to  hear.  The  more  apparent. 
ly  insignificant  the  cause,  the  more  inexplicable, 
humanly  speaking,  was  the  effect. 

"  It  must  be,"  argued  believers,  "  either  that  the 
reflection  from  on  high  was  really  visible  on  this 
child,  or  that  the  breath  of  God  which  stirs  up 
hearts  as  it  wills,  had  passed  over  this  multitude. 
Spiritus  ubi  vult  spirat. 

An  electric  current,  an  irresistible  power  from 
which  no  one  could  escape,  appeared  to  have  roused 
up  the  entire  population  at  the  word  of  an  ignorant 
shepherd  girl.  In  the  work-shops  and  yards,  in  the 
interior  of  families,  at  the  parties  of  the  higher 
classes,  among  clergy  and  laymen,  at  the  houses  of 
rich  and  poor,  at  the  club,  in  the  cafes  and  hotels, 
on  the  squares,  in  the  streets,  evening  and  morning, 
in  public  and  private,  nothing  else  was  talked  of. 
Whether  any  one  sympathized  with  or  was  opposed 
to  it,  or,  without  taking  part  either  way  was  simply 
curious  and  inquisitive  to  learn  the  truth,  there  was 
not  a  single  individual  in  the  country  who  was  not 
strongly — I  had  almost  said  entirely — engrossed  in 
the  discussion  of  these  singular  events. 

Popular  instinct  had  recognized  the  personality 
of  the  Apparition  without  waiting  for  her  to  declare 
her  name.  "  It  is,  beyond  a  doubt,  the  Holy  Vir 
gin,"  was  repeated  by  the  multitude  on  every  side 
In  presence  of  the  essentially  insignificant  author 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  Ol 

ity  :>f  a  jittle  girl  not  yet  fourteen  years  of  age,  who 
pretended  to  see  and  hear  what  no  one  around  her 
saw  or  heard,  the  philosophers  of  the  place  had  fail 
play  against  Superstition. 

This  child  is  not  even  old  enough  to  take  an  oath, 
and  her  testimony  would  scarcely  be  received  at  any 
of  the  tribunals  when  deposing  to  the  most  insigni- 
ficant fact ;  and  would  you  believe  her,when  the  ques- 
tion in  point  is  an  impossible  event,  an  Apparition  ? 
Is  it  not  evidently  a  farce  concocted  for  the  sake  of 
raising  money  by  her  own  family,  or  by  the  clerical 
party?  It  only  requires  two  sharp  eyes  to  see 
through  this  wretched  intrigue.  In  less  than  ten 
minutes  any  one  of  us  might  have  seen  through  it. 

Some  of  those  who  held  this  language  determined 
to  see  Bernadette,  to  ask  her  questions  and  be  pres- 
ent at  her  ecstacies.  The  child's  answers  were  sim- 
ple, natural,  free  from  contradictions,  and  given  with 
an  accent  of  truth  which  it  was  impossible  to  mis- 
take, so  as  generally  to  produce  the  conviction  in 
the  most  prejudiced  minds  of  her  entire  sincerity. 
With  regard  to  her  ecstacies,  those  who  had  seen  at 
Paris  the  gTeatest  actresses  of  our  day,  agreed  that 
art  could  not  go  so  far.  The  supposition  of  the 
whole  thing  being  a  piece  of  acting,  could  not  hold 
out  against  the  evidence  of  four  and  twenty  hours. 

The  Savants,  who  at  first  had  permitted  the  phil- 
osophers to  decide  the  point,  now  took  a  high  tone. 

**  We  know  this  state  perfectly  well,"  they  declar- 
ed. "  Nothing  is  more  natural.  This  little  £  rl  is 
sincere,  perfectly  sincere  in  her  answers ;  but  s  e  is 
in  a  state  of  hallucination.  She  fancies  she  sees,  and 
does  not  see  ;  she  believes  she  hears,  and  does  not 
hear.  As  regards  her  ecstacies — in  which  she  it 


62  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 

equally  sincere — they  are  not  acted  nor  do  they  pro 
ceed  from  art.  It  is  a  purely  medical  question. 
The  young  Souberous  suffers  from  attacks  of  a  cer- 
tain malady :  she  is  cataleptic.  In  a  derangement 
of  the  brain,  complicated  with  a  muscular  and  ner- 
vous agitation,  we  have  a  full  explanation  of  the 
phenomena  which  makes  so  much  noise  among  the 
vulgar.  Nothing  is  more  simple." 

The  little  weekly  newspaper  of  the  Reality,  Le 
Lavedan,  an  advanced  journal  which  habitually  ap- 
peared behind  its  time,  deferred  its  issue  a  day  or 
two  in  order  to  speak  of  this  event,  and,  in  as  hos- 
tile an  article  as  it  could  produce,  summed  up  the 
lofty  speculations  of  philosophy  and  medicine,  elab- 
orated by  the  clear  heads  of  the  place.  From  that 
moment — that  is  to  say,  from  the  Friday  night  and 
the  Saturday — the  idea  of  the  whole  thing  being  a 
piece  of  acting  had  been  abandoned  in  face  of  the 
clearness  of  the  facts,  and  the  free-thinkers  did  not 
return  to  it  any  more,  as  may  be  proved  by  all  the 
newspapers  then  issued. 

In  conformity  with  the  universal  tradition  of  High 
Criticism  in  matters  of  religion,  the  excellent  editor 
of  the  Lavedan  commenced  with  a  little  spice  of  cal- 
umny and  insinuated  that  Bernadette  and  her  com- 
panions were  thieves. 

"  Three  young  children  had  gone  to  pick  up  some 
oranches  of  trees  which  had  been  felled  near  the 
gates  of  the  city.  These  girls,  being  surprised  in  the 
very  act  by  the  proprietor,  fled  as  quick  as  their  legs 
could  carry  them  to  one  of  the  grottoes,  which  are 
contiguous  to  the  forest  road  of  Lourdes." 

The  Free-thinkers  have  always  written  History 
in  this  manner.  After  this  straight-forward  action 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUhDES.  63 

n  -lich  proved  his  good-will  and  admirable  sense  of 
justice,  the  editor  of  the  Lavedan  gave  a  tolerably 
correct  account  of  what  had  taken  place  at  the 
Rocks  of  Massabielle.  Indeed,  the  facts  were  too 
notorious  and  had  been  witnessed  by  too  many  to 
be  denied. 

"  We  will  not  relate,"  he  added,  "  the  innumer- 
able versions  which  have  been  given  on  this  subject ; 
we  will  only  say  that  the  young  girl  goes  every 
morning  to  pray  at  the  entrance  of  the  Grotto, — a  ta- 
per in  her  hand — and  escorted  by  more  than  five  hun- 
dred persons.  There  she  may  be  seen  passing  from 
the  greatest  state  of  collectedness  to  a  sweet  smile, 
and  falling  once  more  into  the  highest  state  of  ec- 
stacy.  Tears  escape  from  her  eyes,  which  are  per- 
fectly motionless,  and  remain  constantly  fixed  on 
that  part  of  the  Grotto  where  she  fancies  she  sees 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  We  shall  make  our  readers 
acquainted  with  the  further  progress  of  this  adven- 
ture, which  finds  every  day  new  adepts." 

Not  a  word  of  acting  or  jugglery.  They  knew 
well  that  this  hypothesis  fell  to  the  ground  on  your 
first  conversation  with  Bernadette,  on  your  first 
glance  at  her  ecstacy  and  the  tears  which  moment- 
arily inundated  her  cheeks.  The  excellent  Editor 
affected  to  pity  her,  in  order  to  induce  others  to 
believe  that  she  was  an  invalid.  He  never  men- 
tioned her  without  calling  her,  in  accents  of  gentle 
compassion,  "  the  poor  visionary."  "  Everything, ' 
he  said,  from  the  opening  of  his  article,  "  leads  to 
the  supposition  that  this  young  girl  suffers  from  an 
attack  of  catalepsy." 

"  Hallucination,"  "  catalepsy,"  were  the  two  great 
words  in  the  mouths  of  the  savants  at  Lourdes 


64  <  UR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

"  Be  sure  of  one  thing,"  they  often  said,  "  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  anything  supernatural.  Science 
has  abolished  it.  Science  explains  everything,  and 
in  science  alone  can  you  find  anything  certain.  It 
compares  and  judges  and  looks  to  nothing  but  facts. 
The  supernatural  was  all  very  well  in  those  ig- 
norant ages  when  the  world  was  brutalized  by 
superstition  and  unable  to  observe  things  accu- 
rately ;  but,  in  the  present  day,  we  defy  its  being 
brought  forward,  for  we  are  here.  In  the  present 
instance,  we  have  an  example  of  the  stupidity  of 
the  common  people.  Because  a  little  girl  is  out  of 
health,  and,  when  attacked  by  fever,  has  all  kind? 
of  crotchets  in  her  head,  these  blockheads  loudly 
proclaim  a  miracle.  Human  folly  must,  indeed 
be  boundless  to  see  an  Apparition  in  what  does  not 
'ippear,  and  detect  a  voice  in  what  is  heard  by  no 
3ne.  Let  this  pretended  Apparition  cause  the  sun 
to  stand  still,  like  Joshua ;  let  her  strike  the  rock, 
ike  Moses,  and  make  water  gush  fron  it ;  let  her 
:ure  those  pronounced  incurable  ;  let  her,  in  some 
A*ay  or  other,  command  nature  as  its  mistress  — 
then  we  will  believe.  But  who  does  t.ot  know  that 
things  of  this  nature  never  do  happen  and  never 
have  happened  " 

II. 

Such  were  the  observations  which  were  exchang 
ed  from  morning  to  night  among  the  sagacious  in- 
tellects which  then  represented  Medicine  and  Phil- 
osophy  at  gourdes. 

The  greater  part  of  these  thinkers  had  seen 
enough  of  Bernadette  to  establish  the  fact  that  she 
was  not  acting  a  part.  This  satisfied  their  spirit 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  65 

of  inquiry.  From  the  fact  of  her  evident  sincerity 
they  concluded  that  she  must  be  either  mad  or 
cataleptic.  Their  strength  of  mind  did  not  permit 
them  to  admit  even  the  possibility  of  any  other  ex- 
planation. When  it  was  suggested  to  them  to 
study  the  fact,  to  see  the  child,  to  go  to  or  to  re- 
visit the  Grotto,  to  follow  in  ah  their  details  these 
surprising  phenomena,  they  shrugged  their  shoul- 
ders, laughed  as  the  so-called  philosophers  only  can 
laugh,  and  observed,  "  We  know  all  this  by  heart. 
A  crisis  of  this  kind  is  by  no  means  rare.  Before 
a  month  is  over,  this  child  will  be  raving  mad  and 
probably  paralyzed." 

There  were  some,  however,  who  were  not  satis- 
fied with  such  superficial  reasoning. 

"  Phenomena  of  this  nature  are  rare,"  observed 
Doctor  Dozens,  one  of  the  most  eminent  physicians 
in  the  town ;  "  and  for  my  own  part  I  shall  not 
allow  this  opportunity  of  examining  them  carefully 
to  escape.  The  advocates  of  the  Supernatural  cast 
them  so  often  in  the  teeth  of  men  of  our  profession, 
that  I  should  be  wanting  in  curiosity  were  I  not  to 
study  attentively  and  go  to  the  bottom  of  this  much- 
vexed  question,  de  visu  and  by  personal  experience, 
now  that  they  are  produced  at  the  present  moment 
under  my  very  eyes." 

M.  Dui:>,  an  advocate,  and  several  members  of 
the  bar;  M.  Pougat,  president  of  the  Tribunal,  and 
a  great  number  of  other  persons,  determined  to  de- 
vote themselves,  during  the  fifteen  days  announced 
beforehand,  to  the  most  scrupulous  investigation, 
and  to  be  as  much  as  possible  in  the  first  ranks. 
The  number  of  observers  increased  in  proportion 
to  the  interest  excited  by  the  facts. 


66  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

Some  of  the  medical  profession,  some  autochtlwn 
Socrates',  some  local  Philosophers,  terming  them- 
selves  Voltaireans  to  induce  others  to  believe  that 
they  had  read  Voltaire,  firmly  resisted  their  own 
curiosity,  and  held  it  a  point  of  honor  not  to  figure 
among  the  stupid  crowd  which  was  increasing  daily 
in  number.  As  it  almost  always  happens,  the  grand 
principle  of  these  fanatics  of  Free-thinking  was  not 
to  examine  at  all.  In  their  view,  no  fact  deserved 
attention  which  deranged  the  inflexible  dogmas 
which  they  had  learned  in  the  Credo  of  their  news- 
paper. From  the  heights  of  their  infallible  wisdom, 
at  their  shop-doors,  in  front  of  the  cafes,  or  at  the 
windows  of  the  club,  these  intellects  of  the  highest 
order  ^railed  with  ineffable  disdain  as  they  saw  pass 
by  the  innumerable  stream  of  humanity  which  was 
borne  along  —  by  I  know  not  what  wild  spirit  of 
enthusiasm  —  toward  the  Grotto. 

III. 

ALL  these  facts  had  naturally  made  a  strong  im- 
pression on  the  Clergy  of  the  town ;  but,  with 
wonderful  tact  and  good  sense,  they  had  from  the 
very  first  assumed  the  most  prudent  and  reserved 
attitude. 

The  Clergy,  surprised,  like  all  around  them,  at 
the  singular  event  which  had  so  suddenly  taken 
possession  of  public  opinion,  were  busily  engaged 
in  endeavoring  to  determine  its  nature.  Whereas 
the  Voltaireanism  of  the  place,  in  tne  largeness  of 
its  ideas,  admitted  only  one  solution  as  possible, 
the  Clergy  perceived  several.  The  fact  might  be 
natural,  in  which  case  it  was  the  result  of  a  fine 


OUH  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  67 

piece  of  acting  or  of  a  most  singular  malady  ,  but 
it  might  be  supernatural,  and  the  question  to  be 
solved  was  whether  this  Supernatural  was  diabol- 
ical or  divine.  God  has  his  miracles,  but  the  De- 
mon has  his  prestiges.  The  clergy  were  fully  aware 
of  all  these  things,  and  determined  to  study  ex- 
tremely carefully  the  most  trifling  circumstances 
of  the  event  in  progress.  They  had,  besides,  from 
the  first  moment,  received  the  rumor  of  so  sur- 
prising a  fact  with  the  greatest  distrust.  However, 
it  might  possibly  be  of  a  divine  nature,  and  ought 
not  therefore  to  be  pronounced  upon  lightly. 

The  child,  whose  name  had  suddenly  become  so 
celebrated  in  the  whole  country,  was  entirely  un- 
known to  the  priests  of  the  town.  Since  her  return 
to  the  house  of  her  parents  at  Lourdes,  a  period  of 
fifteen  days,  she  had  attended  the  Catechism,  but 
had  not  been  remarked  by  the  Abbe  Pomian,  who 
was  employed  this  year  in  instructing  the  children 
of  the  parish.  He  had,  however,  once  or  twice 
asked  her  questions,  but  without  knowing  her  name 
or  paying  any  attention  to  her  outward  appearance, 
ost,  a^.  she  was,  among  a  crowd  of  children,  and 
quite  unknown,  as  those  who  come  last  generally  are. 

When  the  whole  population  were  rushing  to  the 
Grotto  towards  the  third  day  of  the  Quinzaine,  de- 
manded by  the  mysterious  Apparition,  the  AbW 
Pomian,  wishing  to  know  by  sight  the  extraordinary 
child  of  whom  every  one  was  talking,  called  her  by 
name,  to  take  part  in  the  Catechism,  as  was  his 
custom,  when  he  wished  to  put  questions  to  any  of 
his  little  charges.  At  the  name  of  Bernadettc 
Soubirous,  a  little  girl,  fragile  in  appearance,  and 
meanly  dressed,  rose  from  her  seat.  The  ecclesi- 


68  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

astic  remarked  in  her  only  two  things — her  sirapli. 
city  and  extreme  ignorance  in  all  religious  matters. 

The  parish  was  presided  over  at  that  moment  by 
a  priest  of  whom  we  must  furnish  a  portrait. 

The  Abbe  Peyramale,  then  verging  on  his  fiftieth 
year,  had  been,  for  the  last  two  years,  cure  doyen  of 
the  town  and  canton  of  Lourdes.  He  was,  by  nat- 
ure, rough,  perhaps  somewhat  extreme  in  his  love 
of  what  was  good,  but  softened  by  Grace,  which 
still,  however,  now  and  then  suffered  glimpses  to 
escape  of  the  primitive  stock,  knotty,  but  in  the 
main  good,  on  which  the  delicate  but  powerful 
hand  of  God  had  engrafted  the  Christian  and  the 
priest.  His  natural  impetuosity  entirely  calmed, 
as  far  as  he  was  himself  concerned,  had  turned  into 
pure  zeal  for  the  house  of  God. 

In  the  pulpit,  his  preaching  was  always  apostol- 
ical, sometimes  harsh  ;  it  persecuted  everything  of 
an  evil  tendency,  and  no  abuse,  no  moral  disorder, 
from  whatever  quarter  it  might  proceed,  was  treat- 
ed by  him  with  indifference  or  weakness.  Some- 
times the  society  of  the  place,  whose  vices  or  ca- 
prices had  been  .ashed  by  the  burning  words  of  its 
pastor,  had  exclaimed  loudly  against  him.  This 
had  never  disturbed  him,  and,  with  God's  assist- 
ance, he  had  almost  always  issued  victorious  from 
the  struggle. 

These  men  with  strict  ideas  of  duty  are  a  source 
of  annoyance  to  many,  and  they  are  seldom  par- 
doned for  the  independence  and  sincerity  of  their 
language.  However,  the  one  in  question  was  for- 
given ;  for  when  he  was  seen  trudging  through  the 
town  with  his  patched  and  darned  cassock,  his 
coarsely-mended  shoes  and  his  old,  shapeless,  three- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  69 

cornered  hat,  ever}7  one  knew  that  the  money  which 
might  have  been  devoted  to  his  wardrobe  was  em- 
ployed in  succoring  the  unfortunate.  This  priest, 
austere  though  he  was  in  morals  and  severe  in  doc- 
trine, possessed  an  inexpressible  kindness  of  heart, 
and  he  expended  his  patrimony  in  doing  good  as 
secretly  as  he  could.  But  his  humility  had  not  suc- 
ceeded, as  he  would  have  wished,  in  concealing  his 
life  of  devotedness.  The  gratitude  of  the  poor  had 
found  a  voice :  besides,  in  small  towns,  the  private 
life  of  an  individual  is  soon  exposed  to  the  light  of 
day,  and  he  had  become  an  object  of  general  vene- 
ration. You  had  only  to  see  the  way  in  which  his 
parishioners  took  off  their  hats  to  him  as  he  passed 
in  the  street ;  only  to  hear  the  familiar,  affectionate 
and  pleased  accent  with  which  the  poor,  sitting  on 
the  steps  of  their  door,  said,  "  Good  morning  Mon- 
sieur le  Cure !"  to  divine  that  a  sacred  bond,  that 
of  good  modestly  done,  united  the  pastor  to  his 
flock.  The  Free-thinkers  said  of  him,  "  He  is  not 
always  agreeable,  but  he  is  charitable  and  does  not 
care  for  money.  He  is  one  of  the  best  of  men,  in 
spite  of  his  cassock."  Entirely  unrestrained  in 
manner,  and  overflowing  with  good-humor  in  pri- 
vate life,  never  suspecting  any  evil,  and  suffering 
himself  even  sometimes  to  be  deceived  by  people 
who  took  advantage  of  his  kindness,  he  was,  in  his 
capacity  of  priest,  prudent  even  to  the  verge  of 
distrust  in  whatever  regarded  the  things  of  his 
ministry  and  the  eternal  interest  of  Religion.  The 
man  might  sometimes  be  encroached  upon  —  the 
priest  never.  There  are  graces  attached  to  a  par 
ticular  state  of  life. 

This  eminent  priest  combined  with  the  heart  of 


JTO  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

an  Apostie  good  sense  of  rare  strength  and  a  firm- 
ness of  character  which  nothing  could  bend  when 
the  Truth  was  in  question.  The  events  of  the  day 
could  not  fail  of  bringing  to  light  these  first-rate 
qualities.  Providence  had  not  acted  without  de- 
sign  in  placing  him  at  this  epoch  at  Lourdes. 

The  Abbe  Peyramale,  placing  a  strong  check  on 
his  own  somewhat  sanguine  nature,  before  permit- 
ting his  Clergy  to  take  a  single  step  or  to  show 
themselves  at  the  Grotto,  which  he  did  not  even 
visit  himself,  determined  to  wait  until  these  events 
had  assumed  some  definite  character — until  proofs 
had  been  produced  one  way  or  other  and  judgment 
had  been  pronounced  by  ecclesiastical  authority, 

He  appointed  some  intelligent  laymen,  on  whom 
he  could  depend,  to  repair  to  the  Rocks  of  Massa- 
bielle  every  time  Bernadette  and  the  multitude 
proceeded  thither,  and  to  keep  him,  day  by  day 
and  hour  by  hour,  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
what  was  going  on.  But  at  the  same  time  that  he 
took  proper  measures  to  be  informed  of  every  par- 
ticular, he  neglected  nothing  which  might  prevent 
the  Clergy  from  being  compromised  in  this  affair, 
the  true  nature  of  which  was  still  a  matter  of 
doubt. 

"  Let  us  remain  quiet,"  he  said  to  those  who  were 
impatient.  "  If,  on  the  one  hand,  we  are  strictly 
obliged  to  examine  with  extreme  attention  what  is 
now  going  on,  on  the  other,  common  prudence  for- 
bids us  to  mix  ourselves  up  with  the  crowd  which 
rushes  to  the  grotto  chaunting  canticles.  Let  us 
refrain  from  appearing  there,  nor  expose  ourselves 
to  the  risk  of  consecrating  by  our  presence  an  im- 
posture or  in  illusion,  or  of  opposing  by  a  prema- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  71 

ture  decision  and  hostile  attitude,  a  work  which 
possibly  may  come  from  God." 

"  As  for  our  going  there  as  mere  spectators,  the 
peculiar  costume  we  wear  makes  that  impossible. 
The  people  of  the  neighborhood,  seeing  a  priest  in 
their  midst,  would  naturally  form  a  group  around 
him,  in  order  that  he  might  walk  at  their  head  and 
intone  the  prayers.  Now,  should  he  give  way  to 
the  pressure  of  the  public,  or  to  his  own  inconsid- 
erate enthusiasm,  and  it  should  be  discovered  later 
on  that  these  Apparitions  were  illusions  or  lies,  it  is 
clear  to  every  one  to  what  extent  Religion  would 
be  compromised  in  the  person  of  the  Clergy.  If 
they  resisted,  on  the  contrary,  and  later  on  the  work 
of  God  became  manifest,  would  not  that  opposition 
be  attended  with  the  same  evil  consequences  ? 

"  Let  us  then  take  no  part  at  present,  since  we 
could  but  compromise  God,  either  in  the  works 
'vhich  he  intends  to  accomplish  or  in  the  sacred 
Ministry  which  he  has  vouchsafed  to  confide  to  us." 

Some,  in  the  ardor  of  their  zeal,  urged  some 
course  of  action. 

"  No,"  he  answered  them  firmly,  "  we  should  only 
be  warranted  in  interfering  in  the  case  that  some 
manifest  heresy,  some  superstition  or  disorder  should 
arise  from  that  quarter.  Then  only  our  duty  would 
be  clearly  traced  out  by  the  facts  themselves.  The 
fruits  proving  bad  we  should  judge  the  tree  to  be 
bad,  and  we  ought  to  hasten  to  the  rescue  of  our 
flock  on  the  first  symptom  of  evil.  Up  to  the  pres- 
ent moment,  nothing  of  the  kind  has  arisen  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  crowd,  perfectly  recollected,  confines 
itself  to  praying  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  tho 
piety  of  the  faithful  seems  ever  on  the  increase. 


72  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

"  Let  us  then  endeavor  to  wait  for  the  supiema 
decision  which  the  wisdom  of  the  Bishop  shall 
promulgate  touching  these  events,  while  we  submit 
ourselves,  apart,  to  a  necessary  examination. 

"  If  these  facts  proceed  from  God,  they  are  in  no 
need  of  us,  and  the  Almighty  will  well  be  able, 
without  our  puny  aid,  to  surmount  all  obstacles  and 
turn  every  thing  to  suit  his  designs. 

"If,  on  the  other  hand,  this  work  is  not  from 
God,  He  will  Himself  mark  the  moment  when  we 
ought  to  interfere  and  combat  in  his  name.  In  a 
word  let  providence  act." 

Such  were  the  profound  reasons  and  considera- 
tions of  deep  wisdom  which  determined  the  Abb6 
Peyramale  formally  to  prohibit  all  the  priests  in  his 
jurisdiction  from  appearing  at  the  Grotto  of  Massa- 
bielle,  as  also  to  abstain  from  going  there  himself. 

Monseigneur  Laurence,  Bishop  of  Tarbes,  ap- 
proved highly  of  this  prudent  reserve,  and  extend- 
ed even  to  all  the  priests  of  his  diocese  the  prohibi- 
tion of  mixing  themselves  up  in  any  way  in  the 
events  at  Lourdes.  When  any  question  respecting 
the  pilgrimage  of  the  Grotto  was  put  to  a  priest, 
either  at  the  tribunal  of  Penance  or  elsewhere,  the 
answer  was  determined  on  beforehand  : 

"  We  do  not  go  there  ourselves,  and  are  conse- 
4uently  unable  to  pronounce  on  these  facts  with 
which  we  are  no*':  sufficiently  acquainted.  But  it  is 
plainly  allowable  for  any  of  the  faithful  to  go  there, 
if  such  is  their  pleasure,  and  examine  facts  on  which 
the  Church  has  not  yet  pronounced  any  decision. 
Go,  or  stay  away :  it  is  not  our  business  to  advise 
you  or  dissuade  you  from  doing  so — neither  to  au- 
thorize nor  to  forbid  vou." 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  73 

It  was,  we  must  allow,  very  difficult  to  maintain 
such  an  attitude  of  strict  neutrality  :  for  each  priest 
had  to  struggle  on  this  occasion  not  only  against 
the  force  of  public  opinion,  but  further  against  his 
own  individual  desire — and  that  certainly  a  legiti- 
mate one — to  assist  in  person  at  the  extraordinary 
things,  which  were,  perhaps,  on  the  point  of  being 
accomplished. 

This  line  of  conduct,  however  difficult  it  might 
be  to  keep,  was  nevertheless  observed. 

In  the  midst  of  whole  populations,  stirred  up  all 
at  once  like  an  ocean  by  a  strange  unknown  blast, 
and  driven  towards  the  mysterious  rock  where  a 
supernatural  Apparition  conversed  with  a  child, 
the  entire  body  of  the  Clergy,  without  one  single 
exception,  kept  aloof  and  did  not  make  their  ap- 
pearance. God,  who  was  invisibly  directing  all 
things,  gave  his  priests  the  strength  necessary  not 
to  give  way  to  this  unheard  of  current,  and  to  re- 
main immovable  in  the  bosom  of  this  prodigious 
movement.  This  immense  withdrawal  on  the  part 
of  the  Clergy  ought  to  show  manifestly  that  the 
head  and  action  of  men  went  for  nothing  in  these 
events,  and  that  we  must  seek  their  cause  elsewhere, 
or  to  speak  more  correctly,  higher. 

IV. 

HOWEVER,  this  was  not  sufficient.  Truth  re- 
quires to  pass  through  another  crucible.  It  be- 
hoves her,  without  any  external  support,  relying  on 
herself,  and  herself  alone,  to  resist  the  great  human 
forces  let  loose  upon  her.  It  is  necessary  for  her 
to  have  persecutors,  furious  enemies  and  adversa- 
4 


74  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ries  skilled  in  laying1  snares.  When  Truth  passe  a 
through  such  trials,  the  weak  tremble  and  fear  lest 
the  work  of  God  should  be  overthrown.  Quid  ti- 
metis,  modicce  fidei.  The  very  men  who  menace 
her  now  are  her  bulwarks  hereafter. 

Such  furious  opponents  attest  to  the  eyes  of  ages, 
that  such  a  belief  has  not  been  established  clandes- 
tinely or  in  the  shade,  but  rather  in  the  face  of  ene- 
mies, whose  interest  it  was  to  see  and  control  every, 
thing  ;  they  attest  to  the  eyes  of  ages  that  its  found- 
ations are  solid,  since  so  many  united  efforts  were 
not  able  to  shake  them  even  at  the  moment  when 
they  arose  in  their  original  weakness  :  they  attest 
that  its  basis  is  pure,  since  after  examining  every- 
thing through  the  magnifying  glass  of  malevolence 
and  hatred,  they  failed  in  detecting  in  it  any  vice  or 
stain.  Enemies  are  witnesses  above  suspicion,  who 
in  spite  of  themselves  depose,  before  posterity,  in 
favor  of  the  very  thing  they  would  willingly  have 
hindered  or  destroyed.  Consequently,  if  the  Ap- 
paritions of  the  Grotto  were  the  starting-point  of 
a  divine  work,  the  hostility  of  the  mighty  ones  of 
the  world,  must  necessarily  go  side  by  side  with 
the  withdrawal  of  the  Clergy. 

God  had  equally  provided  for  this.  While  the  ec- 
clesiastical authority,  personified  in  the  Clerpy, 
maintained  the  wise  reserve  advised  by  the  Cure  of 
Lourdes,  the  civil  authority  was  equally  preoccu- 
pied with  the  extraordinary  movement  which  was 
in  course  of  arising  in  the  town  and  its  vicinity,  and 
which,  pervading  by  degrees  the  whole  Department, 
had  already  crossed  its  limits  in  the  direction  of 
Beam. 

Although  no  disorder  had  occurred,  this  class,  so 


OUR  LADY   OF  GOURDES.  75 

prone  to  take  umbrage,  was  rendered  uneasy  by 
these  pilgrimages,  these  crowds  in  a  state  of  pioua 
recollection,  and  this  child  in  a  state  of  ecstacy. 

In  the  name  of  liberty  of  conscience,  was  there 
no  means  of  preventing  these  persons  from  praying, 
and  above  all  from  praying  where  they  liked  ?  Such 
was  the  problem  which  official  liberalism  began  to 
propose  to  itself. 

The  different  degrees,  M.  Dutour,  Procureur  fnt 
perial,  M.  Duprat,  Juge  de  Paix;  the  Mayor,  the 
Substitute,  the  Commissary  of  Police  and  many 
others  besides,  took  and  gave  the  alarm.  A  mira- 
cle in  the  midst  of  the  iQth  Century,  going  forth  all 
at  once  without  asking  permission  and  without  any 
preliminary  authorization,  was  viewed  by  some  as 
an  intolerable  outrage  on  civilization,  a  blow  against 
the  safety  of  the  state  ;  and  it  was  necessary  for  the 
honor  of  our  enlightened  epoch  that  this  should  bo 
set  to  rights.  The  majority  of  these  gentlemen  be- 
sides, did  not  believe  in  the  possibility  of  supernatural 
manifestations  and  could  not  be  induced  to  see  any- 
thing in  it  but  an  imposture  or  the  effects  of  a  mal- 
ady. At  all  events,  several  of  them  felt  themselves 
instinctively  opposed  to  any  event,  of  whatever  na- 
ture which  could  directly  or  indirectly  tend  to  in- 
crease  the  influence  of  Religion,  against  which  they 
were  actuated  either  by  blind  prejudices  or  avowed 
hatred. 

Without  returning  to  the  reflections  which  we 
made  a  short  time  since,  it  is  truly  a  remarkable 
thing  to  see  that  the  Supernatural,  whenever  it  ap- 
pears in  the  world,  constantly  encounters,  though 
under  different  names  and  aspects,  the  same  oppo- 
sition, the  same  indifference,  the  same  f.delitv. 


76  OUh   LADY  OP  LOURDE8. 

With  certain  shades  of  distinction,  Herod,  Caiaphas, 
Pilate,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  Peter,  Thomas,  the 
Holy  Women,  the  open  enemy,  the  coward,  the 
weak,  the  feeble,  the  devoted,  the  sceptic,  the  timid, 
the  hero,  belong  to  all  times. 

The  Supernatural,  more  especially,  never  escapes 
the  hostility  of  a  party  more  or  less  considerable 
of  the  official  world.  Only  this  opposition  pro- 
ceeds sometimes  from  the  master,  sometimes  from 
his  underlings. 

The  most  intelligent  of  the  little  band  o:  the 
functionaries  of  Lourdes,  at  that  time,  was  un- 
doubtedly M.  Jacomet,  although,  in  a  hierarchic 
point  of  view,  M.  Jacomet  was  the  lowest  of  all, 
inasmuch  as  he  filled  the  humble  post  of  Commis- 
sary of  Police.  He  was  young,  of  great  sagacity 
in  certain  circumstances,  and  gifted  with  a  facility 
of  speaking  not  found  generally  among  his  peers. 
His  shrewdness  was  extreme.  No  one  ever  more 
thoroughly  understood  the  genus  "  Scoundrel." 
He  was  wonderfully  apt  in  foiling  their  tricks,  and 
the  anecdotes,  on  this  head,  recorded  of  him  are 
astonishing.  He  did  not  understand  so  well  the 
ways  of  honest  men.  Quite  at  ease  in  complicated 
affairs,  anything  simple  troubled  him.  Truth  dis- 
concerted him  and  excited  his  suspicions — anything 
disinterested  was  an  object  of  distrust  to  him,  and 
sincenty  was  a  torture  to  his  mind,  always  on  the 
watch  to  discover  duplicity  and  evasion.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  monomania,  Sanctity  would,  doubt- 
less, have  appeared  to  him  the  most  monstrous  of 
impostures,  and  would  have  met  no  mercy  at  his 
hands.  Such  whims  are  frequently  found  among 
men  of  this  profession,  their  employment  habituat- 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  77 

;ng  them  to  ferret  out  offences  and  detect  crimes. 
They  acquire,  in  the  long  run,  a  remarkably  restless 
and  suspicious  turn  of  mind,  which  inspires  them 
with  strokes  of  genius  when  they  have  to  do  with 
rogues,  and  enormous  blunders  when  they  have  to 
do  with  honest  people.  Though  young,  M.  Jaco- 
met  had  contracted  this  strange  malady  of  old 
police-officers.  In  fact,  he  was  like  those  horses  of 
the  Pyrenees,  which  are  sure-footed  in  the  winding 
and  stony  mountain-paths,  but  which  stumble  every 
two  hundred  paces  on  broad,  level  roads ;  like  those 
night-birds  which  can  only  see  in  the  dark,  and 
which,  in  broad  daylight,  dash  themselves  against 
the  walls  and  trees. 

Perfectly  satisfied  with  himself,  he  was  discon- 
tented with  his  position,  to  which  his  intelligence 
rendered  him  superior.  Hence  arose  a  certain 
restless  pride  and  an  ardent  wish  to  signalize  him- 
self. He  had  more  than  influence,  he  had  an  ascend- 
ancy over  his  superiors,  and  he  affected  to  treat  the 
Procureur  Imperial  and  all  the  other  legal  function- 
aries on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality.  He  mixed 
himself  up  with  everything,  domineered  every- 
body, and  almost  entirely  managed  the  affairs  of 
the  town.  In  all  matters  regarding  the  canton  of 
Lourdes,  the  Prefect  of  the  Department,  Baron 
Massy,  only  saw  through  the  eyes  of  Jacomet. 

Such  was  the  Commissary  of  Police,  such  was 
the  really  important  personage  of  Lourdes  when 
the  Apparitions  at  the  Grotto  of  Massabielle  took 
place. 


f\  OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDE\ 

V. 

IT  was  the  third  day  of  the  Qumzaine,  the 
twenty-first  of  February,  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent. 

Before  sunrise,  an  immense  crowd,  consisting  of 
several  thousand  persons,  had  assembled  in  front  of 
and  all  around  the  Grotto,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Gave  and  in  the  meadow-island.  It  was  the  hour 
when  Bernadette  usually  came.  She  arrived  en- 
veloped in  her  white  capulet,  followed  by  some  of 
her  family,  her  mother  or  her  sister.  Her  parents 
had  attended  during  her  ecstacy  the  day  before ; 
they  had  seen  her  transfigured,  and  now  they  be- 
lieved. 

The  child  passed  through  the  crowd,  which  re- 
spectfully made  way  for  her,  simply  in  a  composed 
and  unembarrassed  manner ;  and,  without  appear- 
ing to  be  conscious  of  the  universal  attention  she 
excited,  she  proceeded,  as  if  she  was  doing  the 
simplest  thing  in  the  world,  to  kneel  down  and  pray 
beneath  the  niche  around  which  the  wild  rose  fes- 
tooned its  branches. 

A  few  moments  afterwards,  you  might  have  seen 
her  brow  light  up  and  become  radiant.  The  blood, 
however,  did  not  mantle  her  visnge ;  on  the  con- 
trary, sne  grew  slightly  pale,  as  if  nature  somewhat 
succumbed  in  presence  of  the  Apparition  which 
manifested  itself  to  her.  All  her  features  assumed 
a  lofty  and  still  more  lofty  expression,  and  entered, 
as  it  were,  a  superior  region,  a  country  of  glory, 
significant  of  sentiments  and  things  which  are  not 
found  here  below.  Her  mouth,  half-open,  was 
gasping  with  admiration,  and  seemed  to  aspire  to 
heaven.  Her  eyes,  fixed  and  blissful,  contemplated 


OUR  LADY  OF  LCUKDE8.  79 

an  invisible  beauty,  which  no  one  else  perceived 
but  whose  presence  was  felt  by  all,  seen  by  all,  so 
to  say,  by  reverberation  on  the  countenance  of  the 
child.  This  poor  little  peasant  girl,  so  ordinary  in 
her  habitual  state,  seemed  to  have  ceased  to  belong 
to  this  earth. 

It  was  the  Angel  of  Innocence,  leaving  the  world 
for  a  moment  behind  and  falling  in  adoration  at  the 
moment  the  eternal  gates  are  opened  and  the  first 
view  of  Paradise  flashes  on  the  sight. 

All  those  who  have  seen  Bernadette  in  this  state 
of  ecstacy,  speak  of  the  sight  as  of  something  en- 
tirely unparalleled  on  earth.  The  impression  made 
upon  them  is  as  strong  now,  after  the  lapse  of  ten 
years,  as  on  the  first  day. 

What  is  also  remarkable,  although  her  attention 
was  entirely  absorbed  by  the  contemplation  of  the 
Virgin,  full  of  Grace,  she  was,  to  a  certain  degree, 
.conscious  of  what  was  passing  around  her. 

At  a  certain  moment  her  taper  went  out ;  she 
stretched  out  her  hand  that  the  person  nearest  to 
her  might  relight  it. 

Some  one  having  wished  to  touch  the  wild  rose 
with  a  stick,  she  eagerly  made  him  a  sign  to  desist, 
and  an  expression  of  fear  passed  over  her  counten- 
ance. 

"  !  was  afraid,"  she  said,  afterwards,  with  sim- 
plicity, "  that  he  might  have  touched  the  '  Lady' 
and  done  her  harm." 

One  of  the  observers,  whose  name  we  have  al< 
ready  mentioned,  Doctor  Dozens,  was  at  her  side. 

"  There  is  nothing  here,"  he  thought,  "  either  of 
the  rigidity  of  catalepsy  or  of  the  unconscious 
ecstacy  of  hallucination :  it  is  an  extraordinary 


80  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

%ct,  of  a  class  entirely  unknown  to  MedicaJ 
Science." 

He  took  the  child's  arm  and  felt  her  pulse.  Tc 
this  she  did  not  appear  to  pay  any  attention.  Her 
pulse  was  perfectly  calm,  and  beat  as  regularly  as 
when  she  was  in  her  ordinary  state. 

"  There  is,  consequently,  no  morbid  excitement," 
observed  the  learned  Doctor  to  himself,  more  and 
more  unsettled  in  his  views. 

At  that  moment  the  youthful  Seer  advanced,  on 
her  knees,  a  few  paces  forward  into  the  Grotto. 
The  Apparition  had  removed  from  her  original 
place,  and  it  was  now  through  the  interior  opening 
that  Bernadette  was  able  to  perceive  her. 

The  glance  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  seemed,  in  a 
moment,  to  run  over  the  whole  earth,  after  which 
she  fixed  it,  impregnated  with  sorrow,  on  Berna- 
dette, who  still  remained  kneeling. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  What  must  be 
done  ?"  murmured  the  child. 

"  Pray  for  sinners,"  replied  the  Mother  of  the 
Human  race." 

On  perceiving  the  eternal  serenity  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  thus  veiled  with  sorrow  as  with  a  cloud,  the 
neart  of  the  poor  shepherd-girl  experienced  all  at 
once  a  feeling  of  cruel  suffering.  An  inexpressible 
sorrow  spread  itself  over  her  features.  From  her 
eyes,  which  remained  wide  open  and  constantly  fix- 
ed on  the  Apparition,  two  tears  rolled  upon  her 
cheeks  and  staid  there  without  falling. 

A  ray  of  joy  returned  at  length  to  light  up  her 
countenance,  for  the  Virgin  had  herself  doubtless 
turned  her  glance  in  the  direction  of  Hope,  and  had 
contemplated,  in  the  heart  of  the  Father,  the  inex 


OUK  LAD  7  OF  LOURDE8.  8  1 

haustible  source  of  infinite  mercy  which  descends 
on  the  world  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  by  the  hands 
of  the  Church. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  the  Apparition  disap 
peared.  The  Queen  of  Heaven  had  just  re-entered 
her  kingdom. 

The  aureole,  as  was  its  wont,  lingered  a  few  mo- 
ments, and  then  became  gradually  obliterated  like  a 
luminous  mist  which  melts  and  disappears  in  the  air. 

The  features  of  Bernadette  lost  by  degress  their 
lofty  expression.  It  seemed  as  if  she  passed  from 
the  land  of  sunshine  into  that  of  shade,  and  the  or- 
dinary type  of  earth  resumed  possession  of  that 
countenance  which,  but  a  moment  before,  had  been 
transfigured. 

She  was  now  nothing  more  than  a  humble  shep- 
herd-girl, —  a  little  peasant,  —  with  nothing  outward- 
ly to  distinguish  her  from  other  children. 

The  crowd  pressed  around  her,  panting  for  breath, 
and  in  an  extraordinary  state  of  anxiety,  emotion, 
and  pious  recollection.  We  shall  have,  elsewhere, 
an  opportunity  of  describing  their  bearing. 


DURING  the  whole  morning  after  the  Mass,  and 
up  to  the  hour  of  Vespers,  nothing  was  bruited 
abroad  at  Lourdes  but  these  strange  events,  of 
which,  as  might  be  expected,  the  most  opposite  in- 
terpretations were  given.  To  those  who  had  seen 
Bernadette  in  her  state  of  ecstacy,  proof  had  ap- 
peared in  a  form  which  they  asserted  to  be  irresist- 
ible. Some  of  them  illustrated  their  convictions 
with  not  inappropriate  comparisons. 
4* 


82  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDES. 

"  In  our  valleys  the  Sun  displays  itself  late,  con- 
cealed  as  it  is  towards  the  East,  by  the  Peak  and 
the  mountain  of  Ger.  But,  long  before  we  can  see 
it,  we  can  remark  in  the  West,  the  reflection  of  its 
rays  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains  of  Bastsurgueres, 
which  become  resplendent,  while  we  are  still  in  the 
shade ;  and  then,  although  we  do  not  actually  see 
the  sun,  but  only  tne  reflection  of  its  rays  on  the  de- 
clivities, we  boldly  assert  its  presence  behind  the 
\  uge  masses  of  the  Ger.  "  Bastsurgu£res  sees  the 
sun,"  we  say,  "  and,  were  we  on  the  same  level  as 
Bastsurgu&res,  we  should  see  it  also."  "  Well  it  is 
precisely  the  same  thing  when  we  gaze  on  Berna- 
dette  lighted  up  by  this  invisible  Apparition :  the 
certainty  is  the  same,  the  evidence  altogether  simi- 
lar. The  countenance  of  the  youthful  Seer  appears 
all  at  once  so  clear,  so  transfigured,  so  dazzling,  so 
impregnated  with  divine  rays,  that  this  marvelous 
reflection  which  we  perceive  gives  us  full  assurance 
of  the  existence  of  the  luminous  centre  which  we 
do  not  perceive.  And,  if  we  had  not  in  ourselves 
to  conceal  it  from  us,  a  whole  mountain  of  faults, 
wretchedness,  material  pre-occupations,  and  carnal 
opacity, — if  we,  also,  were  on  a  level  with  the  inno- 
cence of  childhood,  this  eternal  snow  never  trodden 
by  human  foot,  we  should  see  actually,  and  not 
merely  reflected,  the  object  contemplated  by  the 
ravished  Bernadette,  which,  in  her  state  of  ecstacy, 
sheds  its  rays  over  her  features." 

Reasoning  such  as  this,  excellent  perhaps  in  itself, 
and  conclusive  for  those  who  had  witnessed  this  un- 
heard-of spectacle,  could  not  satisfy  those  who  had 
not  seen  anything.  Providence — supposing  it  real- 
ly to  have  taken  a  part  in  these  proceedings — must 


OUR  LAD7  OF  LOURDE8.  83 

it  would  appear,  confirm  its  agency  by  proofs,  which, 
if  not  better  (for  scarcely  any  one  resisted  these  af- 
ter having  experienced  them),  should  at  least  be 
more  material,  continuous,  and,  in  some  measure, 
more  palpable  to  the  senses. 

It  may  be,  the  profound  design  of  God  tended 
that  way ;  and,  that  His  object  in  calling  together 
such  vast  multitudes  was  to  have,  at  the  necessary 
moment,  a  host  of  unobjectionable  witnesses. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Vespers,  Bernadette  left  the 
church  with  the  rest  of  the  congregation.  She  was, 
as  you  may  well  imagine,  the  object  of  general  at- 
tention. She  was  surrounded  and  overwhelmed 
with  questions.  The  poor  child  was  distressed  by 
this  concourse  of  people,  and,  having  returned  sim- 
ple answers,  endeavored  to  get  through  in  order  to 
return  home. 

At  that  moment,  a  man  in  the  uniform  of  the  po- 
lice, a  Sergent  de  Ville,  or  officer  of  the  police,  ap- 
proached her  and  touched  her  on  the  shoulder. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  law,"  said  he. 

"What  do  you  want  with  me?"  inquired  the 
child. 

"  I  have  orders  to  arrest  you  and  take  you  with 
me." 

4<  And  where  ?" 

"  To  the  Commissary  of  Police.     Follow  me  1" 

VII. 

A  THREATENING  murmur  went  through  the  mul- 
titude. 

Many  of  those  who  were  there  had,  the  same 
morning,  seen  the  humble  child  transfigured  by  tha 


84  OUR  LAD7   OF  LOUKDES. 

divine  ecstacy  and  illuminated  by  rays  from  on 
high. 

For  inera,  tnis  little  girl  blessed  by  God  had 
about  her  something  sacred.  They  thrilled  with 
indignation  on  seeing  the  agent  of  police  lay  hands 
on  her,  and  would  have  interfered  on  her  behalf 
had  not  a  priest,  who  at  that  moment  came  out  of 
the  church,  made  signs  to  the  crowd  to  remain  quiet 

"  Let,"  he  said,  "  the  authorities  act  as  they  will.' 

By  a  wonderful  coincidence,  such  as  is  often  to  be 
met  with  in  the  history  of  supernatural  events, 
where  any  one  gives  himself  the  trouble,  or  rathei 
the  pleasure  of  sifting  them,  the  Universal  Church 
had  sung  that  very  day,  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent, 
those  immortal  words  destined  to  comfort  and  con- 
sole the  innocent  and  the  weak  in  the  presence  of 
persecution.  "  God  hath  confided  thee  to  the  care 
of  His  Angels,  that  they  may  xvatch  over  thee  in 
chy  way.  They  will  bear  thee  up  in  their  hands, 
<est  thy  feet  should  be  dashed  against,  and  wounded 
by  the  stones  in  thy  path.  Trust  in  him  :  He  will 
protect  thee  under  the  shadow  of  his  wings.  His 
almighty  Power  shall  encompass  thee  as  with  an  in- 
visible shield.  Go  boldly  !  thou  shalt  crush  the  Asp 
and  the  Serpent  under  thy  feet ;  the  lion  and  the 
dragon  shall  be  brought  low  by  thee.  '  Because  he 
hath  hoped  in  me,'  says  the  Lord,  *  I  will  deliver 
him — I  will  protect  him  because  he  hath  confessed 
my  name.  He  sha.l  call  on  me  and  I  will  gracious- 
y  hear  him.  I  am  with  him  in  the  day  of  trouble.' 

The  Gospel  for  the  day  related  how  the  Saviour 
of  men,  eternal  type  of  the  just  upon  earth,  had  to 
undergo  His  temptations ;  and  it  gave  all  the  details 
of  his  famous  struggles  against,  and  victory  over 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  85 

the  Evil  Spirit,  in  the  solitude  of  the  desert :  Ductu* 
cst  Jesus  in  desertum,  ut  tentaretur  a  Diabolo. 

Such  were  the  texts  so  replete  with  consolation 
for  innocent  and  persecuted  weakness,  which  the 
Church  had  proclaimed ;  such  were  the  mighty  sou- 
venirs  which  she  had  revived  and  the  memory  of 
which  she  celebrated  the  very  day  on  which,  in  the 
depth  of  an  obscure  town  among  the  mountains,  an 
agent  of  the  civil  power  arrested,  in  the  name  of  the 
law,  an  ignorant  little  girl,  in  order  to  conduct  her 
into  the  presence  of  the  most  crafty  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Authority. 

The  multitude  had  followed  Bernadette  as  she 
was  carried  off  by  the  official  agent,  in  a  great  state 
of  excitement  and  grief.  The  office  of  the  Com- 
missary of  Police  was  not  far  off.  The  Sergent  en- 
tered with  the  child,  and  leaving  her  by  herself  in 
tha  passage,  returned  to  lock  and  bolt  the  door. 

A  moment  afterwards,  Bernadette  was  ushered 
nto  the  presence  of  M.  Jacomet. 

An  immense  crowd  remained  standing  outside. 

VIII. 

THE  highly  intelligent  man  who  was  about  to  in- 
terrogate Bernadette  flattered  himself  with  the  idea 
of  obtaining  an  easy  triumph. 

He  was  one  of  those  who  obstinately  refused  the 
explanation  given  by  the  savants  of  the  place.  He 
had  no  faith  either  in  catalepsy  or  hallucination,  or 
the  various  illusions  of  a  morbid  ecstacy.  The  par- 
ticularity of  the  statements  attributed  to  the  child, 
and  the  observations  made  by  Dr.  Dozons  and  many 
other  witnesses  of  the  scenes  enacted  at  the  Grotto. 


86  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 

seemed  to  him  irreconcilable  with  such  a  hypothe- 
sis. With  regard  to  the  fact  itself  of  the  Appari. 
tions,  he  did  not  believe,  they  say,  in  the  possibility 
of  those  visions  from  the  other  world,  and  his  detec- 
tive genius,  however  much  it  was  adapted  to  track 
rogues  in  their  breach  of  the  laws,  could  scarcely 
perhaps  reach  so  far  as  to  discover  God  behind  a 
supernatural  fact.  Being,  therefore,  fully  convinced 
in  his  own  mind  that  those  apparitions  could  not  but 
be  false,  he  had  resolved,  by  fair  means  or  foul, 
to  discover  the  clue  to  the  error,  and  to  render 
the  Free-thinkers  in  authority  at  Lourdes  or  else- 
where, the  signal  service  of  branding  as  an  imp.^- 
ture,  a  supernatural  manifestation  which  had  gain-  . 
popular  credit.  He  had  there  an  admirable  oppor- 
tunity of  striking  a  heavy  blow  at  the  pretended  au- 
thority of  all  the  Visions  of  past  ages,  more  espe- 
cially should  he  succeed  in  discovering  and  proving 
that  the  Clergy,  who  so  studiously  kept  aloof  in  this 
affair,  were  secretly  directing  it  and  turning  it  to 
their  own  advantage. 

Under  the  supposition  that  God  was  nothing  and 
man  everything  in  this  event,  the  reasoning  of  M. 
Jacomet  was  excellent. 

On  the  contrary  supposing  that  God  was  every- 
thing in  it  and  man  nothing,  the  unfortunate  Com- 
missary of  Police  was  embarking  on  a  most  perilous 
voyage. 

In  this  disposition  of  mind,  M.  Jacomet,  from  the 
very  first  day,  had  caused  all  the  proceedings  of 
Bernadette  to  be  carefully  watched,  with  the  view 
Df  surprising,  if  possible,  some  mysterious  commu- 
nication between  the  youthful  Seer  and  any  member 
of  the  Clergy,  whether  of  Lourdes  itself  or  the 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDES.  g; 

neighborhood.  He  had  even,  it  seems,  extended 
his  official  zeal  so  far  as  to  place  one  of  his  creatures 
in  the  church  with  orders  to  keep  his  eye  on  the 
confessional.  However,  the  children  who  attended 
the  Catechism,  were  in  the  habit  of  going  to  confes- 
sion by  rotation  once  a  fortnight  or  once  a  month, 
and  Bernadette's  turn,  during  those  days,  had  not 
yet  arrived.  All  his  conscientious  efforts  had  there- 
fore failed  to  discover  any  complicity  in  the  acts  of 
imposture  which  were  attributed  by  him  to  Berna 
dette.  From  this  he  drew  the  conclusion  that  she 
was  acting  probably  alone,  without  altogether  re- 
nouncing his  suspicions,  for  the  true  agent  of  police 
is  always  suspicious,  even  when  he  has  no  proofs. 
It  is  this  which  constitutes  his  peculiar  type  and  his 
proper  genius. 

When  Bernadette  entered  he  fixed  on  her  for  a 
moment  his  sharp  and  piercing  eyes,  which  he  had 
the  wonderful  art  of  impregnating  all  at  once  with 
good-humor  and  unconstraint.  Habituated  as  he 
was  to  take  a  high  tone  with  every  one,  he  was 
more  than  polite  with  the  poor  girl  of  Soubirous, 
the  miller:  he  was  soft  and  insinuating.  He  made 
her  take  a  seat  and  assumed  at  the  commencement 
of  his  interrogatory  the  benevolent  air  of  a  rea 
friend. 

"It  appears  that  you  are  in  the  habit  of  seeing  a 
oeautiml  Lady  at  the  Grotto  of  Massabielle,  my 
poor  child.  Tell  me  all  about  her." 

Just  as  he  had  said  these  words,  the  door  of  the 
apartment  had  been  gently  opened  and  some  one 
had  entered.  It  was  M.  Estrade,  Receveur  des  Con- 
tributions Indirect  es,  a  man  of  importance  at  Lourdes 
and  one  of  the  most  intelligent  in  the  place.  This 


88  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

functionary  occupied  a  portion  of  the  house  in 
which  M.  Jacomet  resided,  and  having  been  ap- 
prised, by  the  uproar  of  the  crowd,  of  the  arrival 
of  Bernadette,  had  naturally  felt  curious  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  interrogatoiy.  He  concurred,  besides, 
with  M.  Jacomet  in  his  ideas  on  the  subject  of  ap- 
paritions, and,  like  him,  believed  in  some  trickery 
on  the  part  of  the  child.  He  used  to  shrug  his 
shoulders  on  being  offered  any  other  explanation. 
He  considered  things  of  this  nature  as  being  so  ab- 
surd, that  he  had  not  even  condescended  to  go  to 
the  Grotto  to  witness  the  strange  scenes  reported 
as  taking  place  there.  This  philosopher  seated 
himself  a  little  on  one  side,  after  having  made  signs 
to  the  Commissary  not  to  interrupt  his  proceedings. 
All  this  passed  without  Bernadette  appearing  to 
pay  it  any  particular  attention. 

Thus  the  scene  and  the  dialogue  of  the  two  inter- 
locutors  obtained  a  witness. 

On  hearing  the  question  of  M.  Jacomet,  the  child 
had  directed  her  beautifully  innocent  glance  to- 
wards the  agent  of  police,  and  set  about  relating  in 
her  own  language,  that  is  to  say  in  the  patois  of  the 
country,  and  with  a  sort  of  personal  timidity  which 
added  still  more  to  the  truthfulness  of  her  accent, 
the  extraordinary  events,  with  which  for  some  days 
past,  her  life  had  been  filled. 

M.  Jacomet  listened  to  her  with  deep  attention, 
still  affecting  an  air  of  good-humor  and  kindness. 
From  time  to  time  he  took  notes  on  a  paper  which 
lay  before  him. 

This  was  remarked  by  the  child  but  it  did  not 
cause  her  any  uneasiness. 

When  she  had  finished  her  relation,  the  Commis- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB.  89 

sary,  with  increased  earnestness  and  sweetness  of 
manner,  put  to  her  innumerable  questions  as  if  his 
enthusiastic  piety  was  interested  beyond  measure 
m  such  divine  wonders.  He  shaped  all  his  interro- 
gations, one  after  the  other,  without  any  order,  in 
short  and  hurried  phrases,  so  as  not  to  allow  the 
child  any  time  for  reflection. 

Bernadette  replied  to  these  various  questions 
without  any  trouble  or  shadow  of  hesitation,  and 
with  the  tranquil  composure  of  a  person  who  is 
questioned  on  the  aspect  of  a  landscape  or  a  picture 
immediately  under  his  eyes.  Sometimes,  in  order 
to  make  herself  understood,  she  added  some  imita- 
tive gesture,  some  expressive  mimicry,  to  su]  >ply  as 
it  were  the  feebleness  of  her  expressions. 

The  rapid  pen  of  M.  Jacomet  had  in  the  mean- 
time noted,  as  she  went  along,  all  the  answers  which 
had  been  given  to  him. 

Then  it  was  that  after  having  attempted  in  this 
manner  to  weary  and  perplex  the  mind  of  the  child 
by  entering  into  such  a  minute  infinity  of  details  — 
then  it  was  that  the  formidable  agent  of  police  as- 
sumed, without  passing  through  any  intermediate 
stage,  a  menacing  and  terrible  expression  of  coun- 
tenancs  and  suddenly  changed  his  tone: 

"  You  are  a  liar,"  he  exclaimed  with  violence  and 
as  if  seized  suddenly  with  rage  ;  "  you  are  deceiving 
everybody,  and  unless  you  confess  the  truth  at 
once,  I  will  have  you  arrested  by  the  Gendarmes." 

Poor  Bernadette  was  as  much  stupefied  at  the 
aspect  oi  this  sudden  and  formidable  metamorphosis 
as  if  she  had  felt  the  icy  rings  of  a  serpent  suddenly 
twisting  itself  among  her  fingers,  instead  of  the 
harmless  branch  of  a  tree  which  she  had  fancied 


po  OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDES. 

she  had  been  carrying  in  her  hand.  She  was  stu. 
pefied  with  horror,  but,  contrary  to  the  deep  calcu- 
lations of  Jacomet,  she  was  not  agitated.  She 
preserved  her  tranquillity  as  if  her  soul  had  been 
sustainel  by  some  invisible  hand  against  so  unex- 
pected a  shock. 

The  Commissary  had  risen  to  his  feet  with  a 
glance  at  the  door  as  if  to  hint  that  he  had  only  to 
make  a  sign  to  call  in  the  Gendarmes  and  send  the 
visionary  to  prison. 

"  Sir,"  said  Bernadette,  with  a  calm  and  peaceful 
firmness,  which,  in  this  wretched  little  peasant-girl 
had  an  incomparably  simple  grandeur,  "  you  may 
have  me  arrested  by  the  Gendarmes,  but  I  can  only 
say  what  I  have  already  said.  It  is  the  truth." 

"  We  shall  see  about  that,"  said  the  Commissary 
resuming  his  seat  and  judging  by  a  glance  of  his 
experienced  eye  that  threats  were  absolutely  power- 
less on  this  extraordinary  child. 

M.  Estrade,  who  had  been  a  silent  and  impartial 
witness  of  the  scene  described  above,  was  divided 
between  feelings  of  immense  astonishment  with 
which  Bernadette's  accent  of  conviction  had  in- 
spired him,  and  of  admiration,  in  spite  of  himself, 
of  the  skillful  strategy  of  Jacomet,  the  aim  of  which 
as  it  was  unfolded  before  him,  he  thoroughly  under- 
stood. 

This  struggle  between  such  strength  coupled  with 
craft,  and  mere  childish  weakness  with  no  other  de 
tensive  weapon  than  simplicity,  assumed  a  totally 
unexpected  character. 

Jacomet,  however,  armed  with  the  notes  which 
he  had  been  taking  for  the  last  three  quarters  of  an 
hour,  applied  himself  to  recommencing  his  inter 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  91 

rogatory,  but  in  a  different  order  and  in  a  thousand 
captious  shapes,  proceeding  always,  according  to 
his  method,  with  sudden  and  rapid  questions  and 
demanding  immediate  answers.  He  had  no  doubt 
of  being  able  by  such  means  to  drive  the  little  girl 
to  contradict  herself,  at  least  in  some  of  the  minof 
details.  Were  this  done,  the  imposture  was  ex- 
posed and  the  game  was  in  his  own  hands.  But  he 
exhausted  in  vain  all  the  dexterity  of  his  mind  in 
the  multiplied  evolutions  of  this  subtle  manoeuvre. 
In  nothing  did  the  child  contradict  herself,  not  even 
in  that  imperceptible  point,  that  minute  iota  spoken 
of  in  the  Gospel.  To  the  same  questions,  in  what- 
ever terms  proposed,  she  invariably  replied,  if  not 
in  the  same  words,  at  least  with  the  same  facts  and 
in  the  same  shade  of  meaning.  M.  Jacomet  mean- 
while held  out,  if  it  was  only  with  the  object  of 
wearying  still  more  this  artless  child  whom  ht 
hoped  to  find  at  fault.  He  turned  and  twisted  her 
account  of  the  Apparitions  into  every  possible 
shape,  without  being  able  to  impair  it.  He  was 
like  a  wild  beast  trying  to  make  an  impression  with 
its  fangs  on  a  diamond. 

"  Well,"  said  he  at  length  to  Bernadette,  "  I  am 
going  to  draw  up  the  report  of  your  examination, 
and  you  shall  hear  it  read." 

He  wrote  rapidly  two  or  three  pages,  frequently 
consulting  his  notes.  He  had  designedly  intro- 
duced into  certain  details  some  variations  of  slight 
importance,  as,  for  instance,  the  form  of  the  robe 
and  the  length  or  position  of  the  Virgin's  veil 
This  was  a  new  snare,  but  it  was  as  useless  as  all 
the  rest.  While  he  was  reading  and  saying,  from 
time  to  time,  "  That  is  correct  is  it  not  ?"  Bernadette, 


92  OUB  LADY   OF  LOURDES. 

as  simple  and  meek  as  she  was  unshaken,  replied 
humbly  but  firmly : 

"  No ;  I  did  not  say  so,  but  so." 

And  she  re-established  the  inexactly-stated  par- 
ticular in  its  original  truth  and  shade  of  meaning. 

For  the  most  part,  Jacomet  contested  the  point. 

"  But  you  did  say  so !  I  wrote  it  down  at  the 
time,  You  have  said  so-and-so  to  several  persons 
in  the  town,"  etc.,  etc. 

"  No,"  answered  Bernadette  ;  "  1  did  not  say  so, 
and  could  not  have  said  so,  for  it  is  not  true." 

And  the  Commissary  was  always  obliged  to  yield 
to  the  child's  objections. 

The  modest  and  invincible  self-possession  of  this 
little  girl  was,  indeed,  most  remarkable,  and  the 
surprise  of  M.  Estrade,  on  observing  it,  increased. 
Personally  Bernadette  was,  and  appeared  to  be, 
extremely  timid,  and  her  bearing  was  humble  and 
even  somewhat  confused  before  strangers.  And 
yet,  in  anything  touching  the  reality  of  the  Appa- 
ritions, she  displayed  uncommon  force  of  mind  and 
energy  of  affirmation.  When  her  testimony  to 
what  she  had  seen  was  in  question,  she  gave  her 
replies  without  hesitation  and  with  undisturbed 
composure.  But  even  then  it  was  easy  to  divine 
in  her  the  virgin  modesty  of  a  soul  which  would 
gladly  have  concealed  itself  from  the  sight  of  every 
one. 

It  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  she  triumphed  over 
her  habitual  timidity  solely  from  respect  for  the  in- 
ternal truth,  of  which  she  was  the  messenger  to 
mankind,  and  from  love  for  the  "  Lady"  who  had 
appeared  to  her  at  the  Grotto.  She  needed  all  the 
feeling  of  her  office  to  enable  her  to  surmount  the 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  9$ 

innate  tendency  of  her  nature,  which,  undei  any 
other  circumstances,  was  timid  and  disliked  any 
thing  like  publicity. 

The  Commissary  betook  himself  once  more  to 
threats. 

'  If  you  persist  in  going  to  the  Grotto,  I  shah 
have  you  put  in  prison,  and  you  shall  not  leave 
this  place  until  you  promise  to  go  there  no 
more." 

"  I  have  j:  romised  to  the  Vision  to  go  there," 
observed  the  child.  "And,  besides,  when  the  mo- 
ment arrives,  I  am  urged  on  by  something  which 
comes  within  me  and  calls  me." 

The  interrogatory,  as  we  see,  verged  to  a  close. 
It  had  been  long,  and  could  not  have  lasted  less 
than  an  hour,  at  least.  Outside,  the  crowd,  not 
without  a  feeling  of  restless  impatience,  awaited 
the  coming  out  of  the  child  whom  they  had  seen 
that  very  morning  transfigured  in  the  light  of  a 
divine  ecstacy.  From  the  apartment,  in  which 
passed  the  scene  which  we  have  just  described, 
might  be  heard  confusedly  the  cries,  words,  ques- 
tions and  thousand  different  noises  which  serve  to 
form  the  tumult  of  a  crowd.  The  uproar  seemed 
to  increase  and  assume  a  menacing  tone.  At  a 
certain  moment  there  was  a  peculiar  kind  of  agita- 
tion in  the  crowd  as  if  some  one,  whose  presence 
had  been  greatly  desired  and  long  expected,  had 
arrived  in  the  midst  of  it. 

Almost  immediately,  repeated  knocks  at  the  door 
of  the  house  were  heard,  but  they  did  not  appear 
to  affect  the  Commissary. 

The  blows  became  more  violent.  The  man  who 
struck  tnem  shook  the  door  at  the  same  time  and 


94  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

endeavored  to  force  it.     Jacomet  rose  in  a  state  cf 
irritation  and  went  to  open  it  himself. 

"  You  cannot  come  in  here,"  said  he  furiously 
"What  do  you  want?" 

"  I  want  my  daughter,"  answered  the  miller 
Soubirous,  effecting  his  entrance  by  force,  and  fol- 
lowing the  Commissary  into  the  room  in  which 
Bernadette  was. 

The  sight  of  the  peaceful  countenance  of  his 
daughter  calmed  the  anxious  agitation  of  her  fath 
er,  and  he  once  more  subsided  into  a  poor  man  ol 
the  humbler  class,  who  could  not  help  trembling  in 
presence  of  a  personage  who,  notwithstanding  his 
inferior  position,  was,  owing  to  his  activity  and  in- 
telligence, the  most  important  and  formidable  man 
in  the  district. 

Francois  Soubirous  had  taken  off  his  Bearnois 
beret  and  was  twirling  it  in  his  hands.  As  nothing 
escaped  the  notice  of  Jacomet,  he  saw,  at  a  glance, 
that  the  miller  was  frightened.  Resuming  his  air 
of  good-humor  and  compassionate  pity,  he  clapped 
him  familiarly  on  the  shoulder. 

"  Friend  Soubirous,"  said  he  to  him,  "  take  care, 
mind  what  you  are  about.  Your  daughter  is  on 
the  eve  of  getting  herself  into  trouble,  and  is  on 
the  straight  road  to  prison.  I  am  willing  not  to 
send  her  there  this  time,  but  only  on  condition  of 
your  forbidding  her  to  return  to  the  Grotto,  where 
she  is  acting  a  farce.  On  the  first  repetition  of  the 
offence,  I  shall  be  inflexible,  and,  besides,  you 
know  that  the  Procureur  Imperial  treats  such  mat- 
ters earnestly.' 

"  Since  such  is  your  wish,  Monsieur  Jac  >met," 
answered  the  poor  father,  panic-struck,  •*  I  will 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  95 

forbid  her  to  go  there  and  her  mother  likewise, 
and,  as  she  has  always  obeyed  us,  she  will  certainly 
not  go  thei  e." 

"At  a»y  rate,  if  she  goes  there,  and  this  scanda^ 
continues,  I  shall  call  you  to  account  as  well  as 
her,"  said  the  formidable  Commissary,  resuming 
his  tone  of  menace  and  dismissing  them  by  a 
gesture. 

Cries  of  satisfaction  were  uttered  by  the  crowd 
at  the  moment  Bernadette  and  her  father  came  out. 
The  child  then  returned  home,  and  the  multitude 
dispersed  through  the  town. 

The  Commissary  of  Police  and  the  Receveur  being 
left  alone,  communicated  to  each  other  the  impres- 
sions made  on  them  by  this  strange  interrogatory. 

"  What  firm  resolution  in  her  depositions !"  ex- 
d  timed  M.  Estrade,  who  had  been  struck  with  pro- 
found astonishment. 

"  What  invincible  persistence  in  her  falsehood  !" 
replied  Jacomet,  stupefied  at  having  been  van 
quished. 

"  What  truth  in  her  accents !"  continued  the 
Receveur.  "  Nothing  in  her  language  or  bearing 
bore  the  slightest  appearance  of  contradiction.  It 
is  clear  she  believes  she  has  seen  something." 

"  What  artful  cunning !"  rejoined  the  Commis- 
sary. "  In  spite  of  my  efforts  she  never  fell  into 
any  discrepancy.  She  has  her  story  at  her  fingers' 
ends." 

Both  the  Commissary  and  M.  Estrade  persisted 
in  their  incredulity  regarding  the  actual  fact  of  the 
Apparition.  But  a  shade  of  difference  already 
separated  their  two  negations,  and  this  shade  of 
difference  was  as  a  gulf  between  them.  The  one 


96  01722  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

supposed  Bernadette  to  be  dexterous  in  falsehood, 
the  other  set  her  down  as  sincere  in  her  illusion. 

"  She  is  artful !"  said  the  former. 

"  She  is  sincere !"  observed  the  latter. 


IX. 


ALTHOUGH  M.  Jacomet  had  been  powerless 
against  the  simple,  precise  and  uncontradictory 
answers  of  Bernadette,  he  had,  nevertheless,  gained 
a  decided  advantage  at  the  close  of  this  long  strug- 
gle. He  had  exceedingly  terrified  the  father  of  the 
youthful  Seer,  and  he  knew  that  in  that  quarter,  at 
least  for  the  time,  the  odds  were  in  his  favor. 

Francois  Soubirous  was  a  very  good  kind  of  a 
man,  but  by  no  means  a  hero.  Opposed  to  official 
authority,  he  was  timid,  as  the  lower  classes  and 
the  poor  usually  are.  To  such,  the  least  embroil- 
ment with  the  law  is,  owing  to  their  poverty,  a  ter- 
rible misfortune,  and  they  feel  themselves  utterly 
powerless  to  cope  with  arbitrary  power  and  perse- 
cution. He  believed,  it  is  true,  in  the  reality  of  the 
Apparitions ;  but  as  he  neither  comprehended  their 
nature  nor  measured  their  importance,  and  even  felt 
a  certain  amount  of  terror  in  connection  with  these 
extraordinary  events,  he  saw  no  great  inconvenience 
in  setting  his  face  against  Bernadette's  revisiting 
the  Grotto.  He  had  perhaps  some  vague  fear  of 
displeasing  the  invisible  Lady  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  manifesting  herself  to  his  child,  but  the  fear  of 
irritating  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood,  of  engaging  in 
a  struggle  with  so  formidable  a  personage  as  the 
Commissary  came  nearer  home  to  him  and  acted 
much  more  powerfully  on  his  mina 


OUH  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  97 

"  You  see  that  all  these  gentlemen  of  the  place 
are  against  us,"  he  observed  to  Bernadette,  "  and 
;f  you  return  to  the  Grotto,  M.  Jacomet,  who  is 
master  here,  will  put  both  of  us  in  prison.  Do  not 
go  there  any  more." 

"  Father,"  said  Bernadette,  "  when  I  go  there,  it 
is  not  altogether  of  myself.  At  a  certain  moment 
there  is  something  in  me  which  calls  me  and  at- 
tracts me  to  the  place." 

"  Be  this  as  it  may,"  rejoined  her  Father,  "  I  for- 
bid  you  positively  to  go  there  again.  You  will 
surely  not  disobey  me  for  the  first  time  in  your 
life." 

The  poor  child,  thus  placed  in  a  dilemma  between 
the  promise  she  had  made  to  the  Apparition  and 
the  express  prohibition  of  her  father's  authority, 
replied : 

"  I  will  in  that  case  do  all  in  my  power  to  prevent 
myself  going  there  and  to  resist  the  attraction  which 
summons  me  to  the  place." 

So  passed  sadly  away  the  evening  of  the  same 
Sunday  which  had  arisen  in  the  blessed  and  glori- 
ous splendor  of  ecstacy. 

X. 

THE  next  morning,  Monday  the  22nd  of  Febru- 
ary, when  the  usual  hour  for  the  Apparition  arrived, 
the  crowd  waiting  for  the  youthful  Seer  on  the 
banks  of  the  Gave  saw  no  signs  of  her  coming 
Her  parents  had  sent  her  at  sun-rise  to  the  school, 
and  Bernadette  deeming  it  her  duty  to  obey,  had 
repaired  thither  with  a  heavy  heart. 

The  Sisters,  whose  duties  combining  chanty  and 
5 


98  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

the  instruction  of  children,  to  which  may  perhaps 
be  also  added  the  recommendations  of  the  Cur6  of 
Lourdes,  detained  them  at  the  Hospital  or  the 
School,  had  never  witnessed  the  ecstacies  of  Ber- 
aadette  and  placed  no  faith  in  the  Apparitions. 

Besides,  in  matters  of  this  nature,  if  the  common 
people  sometimes  exhibit  too  much  credulity,  it  is 
a  fact — and  the  phenomenon,  however  surprising  it 
appears  at  first,  is  indisputable — that  Ecclesiastics 
and  Religious  of  both  sexes  are  very  sceptical  and 
loath  to  believe,  and  that,  while  admitting  theoreti- 
cally the  possibility  of  such  divine  manifestations, 
they  often  demand  a  severity  of  proof  which  may 
be  regarded  as  excessive.  The  Sisters  accordingly 
added  their  formal  interdiction  to  that  of  Berna- 
dette's  parents,  telling  her  that  all  these  visions 
were  destitute  of  reality,  and  that  either  her  brain 
was  affected  or  she  was  guilty  of  falsehoods.  One 
of  them  suspecting  an  imposture  in  things  of  so 
grave  and  sacred  a  nature,  displayed  much  severity 
and  treated  the  whole  affair  as  a  piece  of  trickery. 

"  Naughty  child,"  said  she  to  her,  "  this  a  pretty 
Carnival  you  are  making  in  the  holy  season  of 
Lent." 

Other  persons  who  saw  her  during  the  hours  of 
recreation,  accused  her  of  wishing  to  pass  herself 
off  as  a  saint,  and  of  making  sport  of  sacred  things. 
The  taunts  of  some  of  the  children  at  the  school 
were  added  to  the  bitter  reproaches  and  humilia- 
tions with  which  she  was  overwhelmed. 

It  was  the  will  of  God  to  try  Bernadette.  Hav- 
ing on  the  preceding  days  inundated  her  with  con- 
solation, He  intended,  in  His  wisdom,  to  leave  her 
for  a  certain  reason  in  a  state  of  complete  abandon. 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOUBDES,  99 

merit,  a  prey  to  railleries  and  insults,  and  to  Dring 
her  in  contact,  alone  and  deserted  as  she  was,  with 
the  hostility  of  all  those  by  whom  she  was  sur- 
rounded. 

The  unfortunate  little  girl  suffered  cruelly,  not 
only  from  these  external  contrarieties,  but  perhaps 
still  more  from  the  internal  anguish  of  her  mind. 

This  childish  shepherd  girl,  unacquainted  hither- 
to in  her  short  life  with  any  thing  but  physical 
evils,  was  now  entering  on  a  higher  path  and  was 
beginning  to  experience  tortures  and  distractions 
of  another  nature.  On  the  one  hand,  she  was  un- 
willing to  disobey  the  authority  of  her  father  or 
of  the  Sisters :  while  on  the  other,  she  could  not 
endure  the  thought  of  failing  in  the  promise  she 
had  made  to  the  divine  Apparition  at  the  Grotto. 
A  cruel  struggle  ensued  in  her  young  soul,  hitherto 
so  peaceful.  It  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  was  oscil- 
lating hopelessly  between  two  abysses  equally  fatal. 
To  go  to  the  Grotto  was  a  sin  against  her  father, 
not  to  go  there  was  a  sin  against  the  vision  which 
had  come  from  on  high.  In  either  case,  in  her  own 
point  of  view,  it  was  evidently  a  sin  against  God. 
And  yet,  situated  as  she  was,  she  must  choose  be. 
ween  the  two ;  there  was  no  middle  course  and 
it  was  impossible  to  avoid  so  fatal  a  choice.  It  is 
due,  as  we  are  informed  by  the  Gospel,  that  what 
is  impossible  to  man  is  possible  to  God.  The 
morning  passed  away  in  distress  of  this  nature, 
which  was  rendered  the  more  painful  and  distract- 
ing from  the  fact  of  its  arriving  in  a  soul  entirely 
fresh,  at  an  age,  habitually  calm  and  pure,  when 
impressions  take  such  deep  root  and  when  the  deli 
cate  fibres  of  the  heart  have  not  yet  been  rendered 


100  OUB  LADY    OF  LOURDES. 

callous  by  long  acquaintance  with  human   suffer 
ing. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  day  the  children  re- 
turned  home  for  a  few  moments  to  partake  of  their 
frugal  meal. 

Bernadette,  her  soul  crushed  between  the  two  al- 
ternatives presented  by  her  irremediable  situation, 
walked  slowly  towards  her  home.  From  the  tower 
of  the  Church  at  Lourdes  the  mid-day  Angelus  had 
just  sounded. 

At  that  moment  an  unaccountable  power  took  pos- 
session of  her  all  at  once,  acting  not  on  her  mind 
but  her  body,  as  an  invisible  arm  might  have  done, 
and,  driving  her  out  of  the  road  she  was  taking, 
forced  her  irresistibly  in  the  direction  of  the  path 
which  lay  on  her  right.  She  was  impelled  by  it, 
seemingly,  in  the  same  way  as  a  leaf,  lying  on  the 
ground,  is  hurried  along  by  the  imperious  blast  of 
the  wind.  She  could  no  more  prevent  herself  ad- 
vancing than  if  she  had  been  placed  suddenly  on  a 
most  rapid  descent.  Her  whole  physical  being  was 
dragged  towards  the  Grotto,  to  which  this  path  led. 
She  could  not  but  walk,  she  was  even  obliged  to 
run. 

And  yet  the  movement  by  which  she  was  carried 
along  was  neither  violent  nor  rough.  It  was  irresis- 
tible ;  but  it  had  nothing  in  it  harsh  or  shocking  to 
her  who  was  under  its  control ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
was  supreme  force  co-existing  with  supreme  mild- 
ness. The  almighty  hand  rendered  itself  as  soft  as 
that  of  a  mother,  as  if  it  had  feared  to  injure  so 
frail  a  child. 

Providence,  therefore,  which  directs  all  things, 
had  solved  the  inso  uble  problem.  The  child,  sub. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOTTRDES.  IQI 

mitting  to  the  will  of  her  father,  was  not  going  to 
the  Grotto,  where  her  heart  yearned  to  be ;  and  yet 
carried  away  forcibly  by  the  Angel  of  the  Lord, 
she  arrived  there  notwithstanding,  thus  fulfilling 
her  promise  to  the  Virgin  without  having  willfully 
disobeyed  the  paternal  command. 

Such  phenomena  have  been  remarked  more  than 
once  in  the  life  of  certain  souls,  whose  deep  purity 
has  been  pleasing  to  the  heart  of  God.  Saint  Philip 
Neri,  Saint  Ida  of  Louvain,  Saint  Joseph  of  Cu- 
pertino, Saint  Rose  of  Lima  experienced  impulses 
of  a  similar  or  analogous  nature. 

The  humble  heart  of  the  child,  bruised  and  de- 
serted, began  already  to  smile  with  hope  in  propor- 
tion as  her  steps  approached  the  Grotto. 

"  There,"  said  she  to  herself  "  I  shall  see  the  be- 
loved Apparition  once  more ;  there  I  shall  be  con- 
soled for  everything — there  I  shall  contemplate  that 
beautiful  countenance,  the  sight  of  which  ravishes 
me  with  happiness.  Boundless  joy  will  ere  long 
succeed  these  cruel  sorrows,  for  the  Lady  will  never 
desert  me." 

Owing  to  her  inexperience  she  was  not  aware 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  breathes  where  it  wills. 

XL 

SHORTLY  before  Bernadette's  arrival  at  the  Grot- 
to, the  mysterious  power  which  had  borne  her  along 
seemed  to  be  diminished,  if  not  to  have  altogether 
ceased.  She  walked  slower,  and  felt  a  degree  oi 
fatigue  which  was  unusual  to  her;  for  this  was  pre- 
cisely the  spot  where,  on  other  days,  an  invisible 
oower  seemed  at  one  and  the  same  time  to  draw  her 


102  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

towards  the  Grotto  and  support  her  in  the  exertion 
of  walking.  On  that  day,  she  did  not  experience 
either  this  secret  attraction  or  mysterious  support. 
She  had  been  driven  towards  the  Grotto,  but  she 
had  not  been  attracted  towards  it.  The  power, 
which  had  seized  her,  had  marked  out  to  her  the 
path  of  duty  and  shown  that,  above  all  things,  she 
must  obey  and  keep  the  promise  she  had  given  to 
xhe  Apparition ;  but,  she  had  not,  as  on  former  oc- 
casions, heard  the  interior  Voice  and  experienced 
the  all-powerful  attraction.  Any  one  accustomed 
to  the  analysis  of  mental  feelings  will  appreciate 
these  shades  of  difference  which  are  more  easily  un- 
derstood than  expressed. 

Although  the  vast  majority  of  the  multitude 
which  had  remained  all  the  morning  in  the  vain  ex- 
pectation of  seeing  Bernadette  arrive  had  dispersed, 
there  was  still  at  that  moment  a  considerable  crowd 
assembled  in  front  of  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle. 
Some  had  come  there  to  pray — others  actuated  by 
mere  curiosity.  Many  of  these,  having  from  a  dis- 
tance observed  Bernadette  walking  in  that  direc- 
tion, had  rushed  to  the  spot  and  reached  it  simul- 
taneously with  her. 

The  child,  according  to  her  usual  habit,  knelt 
down  humbly  and  began  to  recite  her  chaplet 
keeping  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  opening  festooned 
with  moss  and  wild  branches  where  the  celestial 
Vision  had,  already  six  times,  deigned  to  ap- 
pear. 

The  crowd  wrapped  in  attention,  curious,  collect- 
ed and  breathing  thick  with  the  intensity  of  their 
feelings,  expected  every  moment  to  see  the  counte- 
nance of  the  child  become  radiant  and  indicate  b} 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  103 

its  lustre  that  the  superhuman  Being  was  standing 
before  her. 

A  considerable  period  of  time  elapsed  in  this 
way. 

Bernadette  prayed  fervently,  but  no  portion  of 
her  motionless  features  was  lighted  up  from  the  di- 
vine reflection.  The  marvelous  Vision  did  not  man- 
ifest herself  to  her  eyes,  and  the  child  waS  not  heard 
when  she  earnestly  besought  the  realization  of  her 
hopes. 

Heaven,  like  earth,  seemed  to  abandon  her  and 
to  remain  as  hard  to  her  prayer  and  her  tears, 
as  the  rocks  of  marble  before  which  her  knees  were 
bent. 

Of  all  the  trials  to  which  she  had  been  exposed 
since  the  previous  evening  this  was  the  most  cruel, 
and  her  cup  of  bitterness  was  full  to  overflowing. 

"  Why  hast  thou  disappeared  ?"  thought  the  child, 
*'  and  why  dost  thou  abandon  me?" 

The  marvelous  Being  seemed  herself  in  fact  to 
reject  her  also,  and  by  ceasing  to  manifest  herself  to 
her,  to  justify  those  who  opposed  her  and  leave  the 
victory  in  the  hands  of  her  enemies. 

The  crowd  was  disconcerted  and  interrogated 
poor  Bernadette.  Those  around  her  asked  her  a 
thousand  questions. 

"  To-day,"  replied  the  child,  her  eyes  red  with 
tears,  "  the  '  Lady  '  has  not  appeared  to  me.  I  have 
not  seen  any  thing.  " 

"  You  must  now  be  convinced,"  said  some,  "  that 
it  was  an  illusion,  my  poor  little  girl,  and  that  there 
has  never  been  anything  ;  it  was  merely  your  fan- 
cy." 

"  In  fact,"  added  others,  "if  the  Lady  appeared 


104 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDES. 


yesterday,  why  should  she  not  have  appeared  to. 
day?" 

"  On  the  other  days,  I  saw  her  as  plainly  as  I  now 
see  you,"  said  the  child;  "and  we  conversed  to- 
gether. But  to-day,  she  is  no  longer  there,  and  why 
it  is  so,  I  know  not." 

"  Pshaw  !"  rejoined  a  Sceptic,  "  the  Commissary 
Df  Police  has  succeeded,  and  you  will  see  an  end  of 
all  this." 

De  par  le  roi,  defense  a  Dieu 
De  faire  miracle  en  ce  lieu. 

Believers  who  happened  to  be  there  were  trou- 
bled in  heart,  and  did  not  know  what  to  say. 

As  to  Bernadette,  sure  as  she  was  of  herself  and  of 
the  past,  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  flitted  across  her 
mind.  She  was,  however,  profoundly  mournful,  and 
shed  tears  and  prayed  on  regaining  her  father's 
house. 

She  attributed  the  absence  of  the  Apparition  to 
some  feeling  of  dissatisfaction.  "  Could  I  have  com- 
mitted any  fault  ?"  she  asked  herself.  But  her  con- 
science did  not  reply  to  her  with  any  reproach. 
Meanwhile,  her  feeling  of  enthusiasm  towards  the 
divine  Vision,  whom  she  evidently  longed  to  con- 
template, was  one  of  redoubled  fervor.  She  sought 
in  the  simplicity  of  her  soul  what  measure  she 
could  take  to  see  her  again,  and  she  discovered  none. 
She  felt  her  utter  absence  of  power  to  evoke  this 
immaculate  Beauty  which  had  appeared  to  her,  and 
turning  her  heart  to  God,  she  wept,  not  knowing 
that  to  weep  is  to  pray. 

There  remained,  however,  a  secret  hope  in  the  in- 
nermost  depths  of  he^  sorrowing  soul,  and  somf 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDBS.  105 

rare  rays  of  joys,  piercing  here  and  there  all 
these  sombre  clouds,  passed  at  intervals  over  heir 
heart,  strengthening  her  faith  in  the  divine  Appari- 
tion, which  she  never  ceased  to  love  and  in  which 
she  believed,  although  it  was  no  longer  presented  to 
her  sight.  And  yet,  doubtless,  the  poor  and  igno- 
rant child  did  not  and  could  not  know  the  meaning 
of  the  words  which  were  being  chanted  at  that  mo- 
ment in  the  Epistle  of  the  Mass :  "  Ye  shall  rejoice 
in  God,  should  it  be  necessary  for  you  to  be  grieved 
with  divers  trials,  to  the  end  that,  thus  strengthened, 
your  faith  infinitely  more  precious  than  gold  (which 
is  also  tried  by  fire),  may  turn  into  praise,  into 
glory,  and  into  honor  for  the  manifestation  of  Jesus 
Christ,  Him  whom  ye  love  always,  although  ye  have 
not  seen  Him ;  Him,  in  whom  ye  believe,  although 
ye  see  him  not  now  ;  and,  for  the  very  reason  that  ye 
thus  believe,  ye  shall  be  crowned  with  indescribable  and 
glorious  joy" 

In  the  same  way  she  had  no  presentiment  of  the 
event  which  was  on  the  eve  of  being  accomplished 
and  she  was  unable,  humble  peasant  girl  as  she  was, 
either  to  know  or  to  apply  to  the  Rock  of  Massa- 
bielle  those  words  which  the  Priests  of  the  enure 
Universe  pronounced  that  very  day  in  the  Gospel 
for  the  Mass, — "  Super  hanc  petram  cedificabo  Eccle~ 
siam  meam"  "  On  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church." 
She  did  not  divine  that  very  shortly,  that  is  to  say, 
on  the  morrow  of  these  hours  passed  in  bitter  tears, 
she  would  herself  announce  prophetically,  and  de- 
mand, in  the  name  of  the  Apparition,  the  erection 
of  a  temple  on  those  lonely  rocks. 

All  these  things  were  hidden  in  the  unfathomable 
obscurity  of  the  future. 
5* 


106  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

"  Where  do  you  come  from  ?"  said  her  father  to 
her,  the  moment  she  came  in. 

She  related  to  them  what  had  just  happened. 

"  And  you  say,"  continued  her  parents,  "  that 
some  power  carried  you  along  in  spite  of  yourself?" 

"  Yes,"  answered  Bernadette. 

"  That  is  true/'  they  thought  to  themselves,  "  for 
this  child  has  never  told  a  falsehood." 

Bernadette's  father  reflected  for  some  moments. 
It  seemed  as  if  there  was  a  kind  of  struggle  going 
on  within  his  mind.  At  length  he  raised  his  head 
and  seemed  to  arrive  at  a  definite  resolution. 

44  Well,"  he  rejoined,  "  since  it  is  so,  since  some 
superior  power  has  dragged  you  there,  I  no  longer 
forbid  you  to  go  to  the  Grotto,  and  leave  you  free 
to  do  as  you  like." 

An  expression  of  joy  of  the  purest  and  most  love- 
ly land  lighted  up  Bernadette's  countenance. 

Neither  the  miller  nor  his  wife  had  taken  any  ob- 
jection to  the  absence  of  the  Apparition  on  that 
day.  Perhaps,  in  the  bottom  of  their  hearts,  the> 
attributed  its  cause  to  the  opposition  they  had  of- 
fered, from  fear  of  the  civil  power,  to  superhuman 
commands. 

XII. 

WHAT  we  have  just  related  had  taken  place  in 
the  afternoon,  and  a  rumor  of  it  had  rapidly  spread 
through  the  town.  The  sudden  interruption  of  the 
supernatural  Apparitions  gave  rise  to  the  most  op- 
posite comments.  Some  pretended  to  derive  from 
the  circumstance  an  unanswerable  argument  against 
all  the  preceding  visions  ;  others,  on  the  contrary 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  107 

considered  it  as  an  additional  proof  of  the  child's 
sincerity. 

This  irresistible  power,  said  to  have  carried  away 
Bernadette  in  spite  of  herself,  elicited  shrugs  from 
all  the  philosophical  shoulders  in  the  place,  and  fur- 
nished a  subject  for  interminable  theses  to  the  re- 
spectable savants,  who  explained  everything  by  a 
perturbation  of  the  nervous  system. 

The  Commissary,  seeing  that  his  injunctions  had 
been  infringed,  and  learning,  in  addition  to  this, 
that  Francois  Soubirous  had  removed  the  prohibi- 
tion which  he  had  imposed  on  his  daughter,  sent 
for  both  of  them,  together  with  the  mother,  and 
renewed  his  threats.  He  succeeded  in  alarming 
them  afresh  ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  terror  with 
which  he  inspired  them,  he  was  greatly  surprised 
at  no  longer  finding  in  Frangois  Soubirous  the  do- 
cility and  feebleness  of  character  displayed  by  him 
che  previous  evening. 

"  Monsieur  Jacomet,"  said  the  poor  man,  "  Ber- 
nadette has  never  told  an  untruth,  and  if  God,  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  or  any  other  Saint  calls  her,  we 
cannot  offer  any  opposition  to  them.  Put  yourself 
in  our  place.  God  would  punish  us." 

"  Besides,  you  say  yourself  that  the  Vision  has 
ceased  to  make  its  appearance,"  argued  Jacomet, 
addressing  himself  to  the  child.  "  You  have  now 
nothing  more  to  do  there." 

"  I  have  promised  to  go  there  every  day  during 
the  Quinzaine,"  replied  Bernadette. 

"All  that  is  mere  stuff!"  exclaimed  the  Commis- 
sary, in  a  tone  of  exasperation  ;  "  and  I  shall  put 
you  all  in  prison  if  this  girl  continues  to  excite  the 
mob  with  her  grimaces." 


108  OUH  LADY  OF  LOURDKB. 

4  Good  God  !"  said  Bernadette.  "  I  go  to  pray 
there  quite  alone.  I  do  not  invite  any  one,  and  it 
is  not  my  fault  if  so  many  persons  precede  and 
follow  me.  They  have,  indeed,  said  that  it  was  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  but  as  for  myself,  I  do  not  know 
who  it  is." 

Accustomed  as  he  was  to  the  quibbles  and  art- 
ful tricks  of  rogues,  the  Agent  of  Police  was  dis- 
concerted, face  to  face,  with  such  profound  sim- 
plicity. His  craft,  his  marvelous  shrewdness,  his 
captious  questions,  his  threats,  all  the  cunning  or 
alarming  tricks  of  his  calling  had  been  hitherto 
foiled,  by  what,  at  first  sight,  and  even  now,  appear, 
ed  to  him  to  be  weakness  itself.  Never,  for  a  single 
moment,  admitting  himself  to  be  in  the  wrong,  he 
could  not  conceive  the  reason  of  his  complete  fail- 
ure. Far,  then,  from  ceasing  to  oppose  the  free 
course  of  things,  he  resolved  to  summon  other 
forces  to  his  assistance. 

"  Really"  he  exclaimed,  stamping  on  the  floor, 
"  this  is  a  mighty  stupid  business  !" 

And,  permitting  the  Soubirous  to  return  home, 
he  rushed  to  the  Procureur  Imperial. 

Notwithstanding  his  horror  of  superstition,  M. 
Dutour  could  not  find  any  law  in  the  arsenal  of  our 
code  to  warrant  him  in  treating  the  youthful  Seer 
as  a  criminal.  She  did  not  summon  any  one  to 
join  her ;  she  did  not  derive  any  pecuniary  advan 
tage  from  her  proceedings ;  she  went  to  pray  on  a 
public  piece  of  ground,  open  to  everybody,  and 
where  no  law  prohibited  her  from  kneeling;  she 
did  not  give  out  that  the  Apparition  uttered  any- 
thing subsersive  of,  or  contrary  to,  the  Govern- 
ment ;  the  population  did  not  commit  the  slightest 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


109 


disorders.     On  these  heads  there  was  evidently  no 
opening  for  treating  her  with  rigor. 

As  to  prosecuting  Bernadette  on  account  of 
"fausses  nouvelles"  experience  had  established  the 
fact,  that  she  never  contradicted  herself  in  her 
story,  and  without  a  contradiction  in  her  words, 
admitting  of  actual  proof,  it  was  difficult  to  estab- 
lish that  she  lied,  without  directly  attacking  the 
very  principle  of  supernatural  Apparitions — a  prin- 
ciple admitted  by  the  Catholic  Church  in  all  ages. 
Without  the  concurrence,  then,  of  the  high  author- 
ities of  the  Magistracy  and  the  State,  a  mere  Proc- 
ureur  Imperial  could  not  take  upon  himself  to  en- 
gage in  a  conflict  of  this  nature. 

To  make  her,  then,  amenable  to  prosecution,  it 
at  was  least,  necessary  that  Bernadette  should  con- 
tradict herself  one  day  or  other ;  that  either  she  or 
her  parents  should  derive  some  profit  from  the 
transaction,  or  that  the  croxvd  should  be  guilty  of 
some  disorder. 

All  this  might  occur. 

To  natures  of  the  common  order,  which  usually 
busy  themselves  in  the  lower  regions  of  the  offi- 
cia.  world,  it  would,  doubtless,  have  only  been  a 
step  from  this  hypothesis  to  the  desire  of  realizing 
it ;  from  this  clear  view  of  things  in  the  minds  of 
those  hostile  to  the  fanaticism  of  the  people,  to 
the  wish  to  lay  snares  for  the  multitude  or  the 
child.  But  M.  Jacomet  was  a  functionary,  and  the 
morality  of  the  police  is  above  suspicions  of  the 
kind.  It  is  only  ill-disposed  minds  which  can 
believe  in  the  existence  of  agents  who  provoke 
others  to  infringe  the  laws. 


HO  <>UR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

XIII. 

ON  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  the  crowd  was 
assembled  before  the  Grotto  ere  the  sun  had  risen. 
Bernadette  repaired  to  her  post  with  that  calm  sim- 
plicity of  manner  which  remained  unchanged  amid 
the  threatening  hostility  of  some  and  the  enthusiastic 
veneration  of  others.  The  sorrow  and  anguish  of 
the  previous  day  had  left  some  traces  on  her  coun- 
tenance. She  still  feared  she  should  see  the  Appa- 
rition no  more ;  and  whatever  were  her  hopes,  she 
scarcely  dared  to  give  way  to  them. 

She  kneeled  down  with  humility,  supporting  in 
one  hand  a  taper  which  she  had  brought  with  her, 
or  had  been  given  to  her,  while,  in  the  other,  she 
held  her  chaplet. 

The  weather  was  calm,  and  the  flame  of  the  taper 
did  not  mount  more  straight  to  heaven  than  did 
the  prayer  of  this  soul  towards  those  invisible  re- 
gions from  which  the  blessed  Apparition  was  wont 
to  descend.  Doubtless  it  must  have  been  so ;  for 
scarcely  had  the  child  prostrated  herself,  when  the 
ineffable  Beauty,  whose  return  she  was  then  so 
ardently  invoking,  manifested  herself  to  her  eyes 
and  transported  her  with  ravishment.  The  august 
Sovereign  of  Paradise  gazed  on  the  child  of  this 
world  with  an  expression  of  indescribable  tender- 
ness, appearing  to  love  her  still  more  since  she  had 
suffered.  She,  the  greatest,  the  most  sublime,  the 
most  powerful  of  created  Beings ;  She,  whose  glory 
swaying  all  ages  and  filling  eternity,  makes  all  other 
glory  grow  pale,  or  rather  disappear ;  She,  the 
Daughter,  Spouse  and  Mother  of  God,  seemed  to 
wish  to  introduce,  as  it  were,  a  kind  of  intimacy 


OUR  LADf  OF  LOURJJEK.  in 

and  familiarity  into  the  feelings  which  united  her 
with  this  little  unknown  and  ignorant  child,  this 
lowly  shepherd-girl.  She  addressed  her  by  her 
name,  with  that  sweet,  harmonious  voice,  the  deep 
charm  of  which  ravishes  the  ear  of  the  Angels. 

"  Bernadette,"  said  the  divine  Mother. 

"  I  am  here,"  replied  the  child. 

"  I  have  to  tell  you  a  secret,  for  you  alone,  and 
concerning  you  alone.  Do  you  promise  me  never 
to  repeat  it  to  any  one  in  the  world  ?" 

"  I  promise  you,"  said  Bernadette. 

The  dialogue  continued,  and  entered  into  a  pro- 
found mystery,  which  it  is  neither  possible  nor 
allowable  for  us  to  fathom. 

Whatever  it  may  have  been,  when  this  kind  of 
intimacy  had  been  established,  the  Queen  of  the 
eternal  Realm  gazed  on  this  little  girl,  who  the  day 
before  had  suffered,  and  was  destined  again  to  suf- 
fer, for  love  of  Her ;  and  it  pleased  Her  to  choose 
her  as  an  embassadress  to  communicate  one  of  Her 
wishes  to  mankind. 

"And  now,  my  child,"  said  she  to  Bernadette 
"  go,  go  to  the  Priests  and  tell  them  to  raise  a  chapel 
to  me  here."  And  as  She  pronounced  these  words 
the  expression  of  her  countenance,  her  glance  and 
her  gesture,  seemed  to  promise  that  she  would  pour 
out  there  numberless  graces. 

After  these  words,  she  disappeared,  and  the 
countenance  of  Bernadette  re-entered  into  the 
shade,  as  the  earth  at  night,  when  th^  sun  has 
gradually  worn  away  in  the  depths  of  the  horizon. 

The  multitude  pressed  round  the  child,  who  had 
but  just  now  been  transfigured  in  ecstacy.  The 
hearts  of  all  were  touched  with  emotion.  Ques- 


OUR  LADT  OP  LOUKDE8. 

tions  wers  showered  upon  her  from  all  quarters. 
They  did  not  ask  her  if  the  vision  had  taken  place ; 
for  at  the  moment  of  her  ecstacy,  all  had  under- 
stood,  had  been  conscious  that  the  Apparition  was 
there ;  but  they  wished  to  know  the  words  which 
had  been  uttered.  Every  one  made  efforts  to  ap. 
proach  the  child  and  to  hear  what  she  said. 

"  What  did  she  say  to  you  ?  What  did  the  Vis- 
ion say  to  you?"  was  a  question  which  escaped 
from  the  mouths  of  all. 

"  She  told  me  two  things — the  one  for  myself 
alone,  the  other  for  the  Priests ;  and  I  am  going  to 
them  immediately,"  replied  Bernadette,  who  was  in 
haste  to  take  the  road  to  Lourdes  in  order  to  de- 
liver her  message. 

She  was  astonished  on  that,  as  on  the  preceding 
days,  that  every  one  did  not  hear  the  dialogue  and 
see  the  "  Lady."  "  The  vision  speaks  loud  enough 
for  others  to  hear,"  she  said  ;  "  and  I  also  speak  in 
my  ordinary  tone  of  voice."  In  fact,  during  the 
ecstacy,  every  one  perceived  the  child's  lips  to 
move,  but  that  was  all ;  no  one  could  distinguish 
any  words.  In  this  mystic  state,  the  senses  are,  in 
a  manner,  spiritualized,  and  the  realities  which 
strike  them  are  absolutely  imperceptible  by  the 
gross  organs  of  our  fallen  nature.  Bernadette  saw 
and  heard,  she  spoke  herself;  and  yet  no  one 
around  her  could  distinguish  the  sound  of  her  voice 
or  the  lorm  of  the  Apparition.  Was  Bernadette, 
then,  mistaken  ?  No  ;  she  alone  grasped  the  truth. 
She  alone,  aided  by  spiritual  succor  and  ecstatic 
grace,  perceived  momentarily  that  which  escaped 
the  senses  of  all  ethers ;  precisely  as  the  astron- 
omer, furnished  with  the  material  assistance  of  hii 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDE8. 

telescope,  contemplates  for  an  instant  in  the  heav- 
ens the  vast  yet  distant  star  which  is  invisible  to 
the  eyes  of  the  vulgar.  Outside  her  state  of  eo 
stacy  she  saw  nothing ;  exactly  as  the  astronomer 
without  the  powerful  optical  instrument,  which  in- 
creases a  hundred-fold  the  power  of  his  eye,  is  as 
powerless  to  discover  a  hidden  star  as  his  next 
neighbor. 

XIV. 

WHAT  then  had  this  strange  and  intimate  convex 
sation  turned  upon  ?  What  was  this  peculiar  secret 
of  which  Bernadette  spoke,  being  at  the  same  time 
unwilling  to  explain  its  nature  ?  What  secret  could 
there  be  between  the  Mother  of  the  omnipotent 
Creator  of  Heaven  and  Earth  and  the  lowly  daugh- 
ter of  the  miller  Souberois;  between  this  radiant 
Majesty,  the  highest  that  exists  after  God  ;  between 
this  supreme  Queen  of  the  Realms  of  the  Infinite, 
and  the  little  shepherd  girl  of  the  hills  of  Bartres  ? 
Assuredly  we  will  not  attempt  to  divine  it,  and  we 
should  regard  it  as  a  sacrilege  to  play  the  eaves- 
dropper at  the  gates  of  Heaven. 

We  may,  however,  be  allowed  to  remark  the  pro- 
found and  delicate  knowledge  of  the  human  heart 
and  the  maternal  wisdom  which  doubtless  prompted 
the  august  speaker,  in  Her  interview  with  Berna- 
dette, to  introduce  some  words  of  profound  secrecy 
as  a  prelude  to  the  public  mission  with  which  She 
invested  her.  Favored  in  the  eyes  of  all  with  mar- 
velous Visions,  charged  to  the  Priest  of  the  true 
God  with  a  message  from  the  other  world,  the  soul 
of  this  child,  up  to  that  moment  so  peaceful  and 


114  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

solitary,  found  itself  transferred  all  at  once  into  the 
midst  of  innumerable  crowds  and  infinite  emotions 
She  was  about  to  become  the  mark  of  the  railleries 
of  some,  the  menaces  of  others,  the  contradictions 
of  many,  and,  what  was  attended  with  most  danger 
to  herself — of  the  enthusiastic  veneration  of  a  great 
number.  The  days  were  at  hand  when  the  multi- 
tudes would  receive  her  with  acclamation  and 
would  vie  with  each  other  for  the  possession  oi 
shreds  of  her  garments,  as  if  they  were  holy  relics  ; 
when  eminent  and  illustrious  personages  would 
prostrate  themselves  before  her  and  implore  her 
blessing ;  when  a  magnificent  temple  would  rise  and 
whole  populations  would  flock  together  in  incessant 
pilgrimages  and  processions  on  the  faith  of  her 
word.  And  thus  it  was  that  this  poor  child,  sprung 
from  the  people,  was  on  the  point  of  undergoing  the 
most  terrible  trial  which  could  assault  her  humility, 
—  a  trial  in  the  course  of  which  she  might  lose  for 
ever  her  simplicity,  her  candor,  in  short  all  those 
modest  and  sweet  virtues  which  had  germinated 
and  blossomed  in  the  bosom  of  solitude.  The  very 
graces  she  received  became  a  source  of  fearful  dan- 
ger to  her,  a  danger  to  which  more  than  once  the 
choicest  souls,  honored  by  favor  from  heaven,  have 
succumbed.  St.  Paul  himself,  after  his  visions,  was 
tempted  with  pride,  and  required  to  be  buffeted  by 
the  Evil  Angel  of  the  flesh  in  order  that  he  might 
nDt  exalt  himself  in  his  own  heart. 

The  Blessed  Virgin  willed,  however,  to  protect 
this  little  girl  whom  She  loved,  without  permitting 
the  Evil  Angel  to  approach  this  lily  of  purity  and  in- 
nocence, opening  its  petals  to  the  rays  of  her  grace 
W  hat  then  does  a  mother  when  her  child  is  threat 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  115 

ened  with  danger  ?  She  clasps  it  closer  and  more 
tenderly  to  her  bosom  and  says  to  it  quite  low,  in 
the  mystery  of  a  word  softly  murmured  in  her  ear, 
14  Fear  nothing.  I  am  there."  And  should  she  be 
obliged  to  quit  it  for  a  moment  and  leave  it  alone, 
she  adds :  "  I  am  not  going  away  far.  I  am  here 
within  a  few  paces  of  you,  and  you  have  but  to 
stretch  out  your  hand  to  take  mine."  In  the  same 
manner  did  the  Mother  of  us  all  act  towards  Berna- 
dette.  At  the  moment  when  the  world  with  all  its 
various  temptations,  and  Satan  with  all  his  subtle 
snares  were  about  to  strain  every  nerve  to  tear  the 
child  from  Her,  She  was  pleased  to  unite  her  more 
intimately  to  Herself.  She  girded  her  with  Her 
arms  and  pressed  her  more  energetically  to  Her 
heart.  She,  the  Queen  of  Heaven !  —  by  imparting 
a  secret  to  the  child  of  earth,  She  did  all  that ;  it 
was  to  elevate  Bernadette  even  to  the  import  of 
Her  lips  which  uttered  low  tones ;  it  was  to  found 
in  her  childish  memory  an  inaccessible  place  of 
refuge,  a  place  of  peace  and  close  intimacy  which 
no  one  could  ever  succeed  in  disturbing. 

A  secret  imparted  to  and  heard  by  another  cre- 
ates the  strongest  bond  of  union  between  two  souls. 
To  tell  a  secret  is  to  give  a  sure  pledge  of  affection- 
ate fidelity  and  unreserved  confidence ;  it  is  to  es- 
tablish a  closed  sanctuary  and  as  it  were  a  sacred 
place  of  meeting  between  two  hearts.  When  some 
one  of  importance,  some  one  infinitely  above  us  in 
rank,  has  put  us  in  possession  of  his  secret,  we  can 
no  longer  doubt  him.  His  friendship  has  by  means 
of  this  intimate  confidence  taken  up,  as  it  were,  its 
abode  in  ourselves,  and  by  it  he  has  made  himself 
the  guest,  or  to  speak  more  clearly,  the  tenant  of 


Il6  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

our  soul.  WUen  our  thoughts  dwell  on  this  secret, 
we  seem  in  a  measure  mysteriously  pressing  his 
hand  and  feel  as  if  in  his  presence. 

In  like  manner  a  secret  imparted  by  the  Virgin 
to  the  miller's  daughter  became  for  the  latter  a  safe- 
guard on  which  she  might  firmly  rely.  We  are  not 
taught  this  by  Theology :  it  is  the  study  of  the  hu- 
man heart  which  attests  its  truth, 


THIRD  BOOK. 
I. 

ON  her  arrival  in  the  town  Bernadette  found 
that  the  multitude  had  streamed  there  in  ad- 
vance of  her  in  order  to  observe  her  next  proceed- 
ings. 

The  child  passed  down  the  road  which  traverses 
Lourdes  and  served  to  form  its  principal  street ; 
then  stopping  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town,  before 
the  boundary  wall  of  a  rustic  garden,  she  opened 
its  gate,  which  was  painted  green,  with  an  open  rail- 
ing, and  directed  her  steps  toward  the  house  to 
which  the  garden  belonged. 

The  crowd,  actuated  by  a  feeling  of  respect  and 
decorum,  did  not  follow  Bernadette,  but  remained 
outside. 

Humble  and  simple  in  appearance,  her  poor  gar- 
ments patched  in  many  places,  her  head  and  should- 
ers covered  with  her  little  white  capulet  of  the 
coarsest  material ;  having  in  a  word  no  external  sign 
of  a  mission  from  on  high  —  with  the  exception  per- 
haps of  the  royal  mantle  of  poverty  which  Jesus 
Christ  himself  bore  —  the  messenger  of  the  divine 
Virgin,  who  had  appeared  at  the  Grotto,  had  just 
entered  the  abode  of  the  venerable  man,  in  whom, 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOUBDES. 

in  that  out-of-the-way  part  of  the  world  and  for 
this  child,  the  infallible  authority  of  the  Catholic 
Church  was  personified. 

Although  it  was  still  early  the  Cure  of  Lourdes 
had  already  finished  saying  his  Office. 

We  know  not  whether  at  the  moment  he  was 
about  to  hear  for  the  first  time  the  voice  of  this 
poor  shepherd-girl,  so  insignificant  in  the  eyes  of  the 
flesh  and  the  world,  but  so  great  perhaps  in  the 
judgment  of  Heaven,  his  memory  recalled  to  him 
the  various  words  he  had  just  pronounced  that  very 
day  at  the  Introit  and  Gradual  of  the  Mass:  "/» 

media  Ecclesi<z  aperuit  os  ejus Lingua  ejus 

loquitur  judicium.  Lex  Dei  ejus  in  corde  ipsius." 
"  His  lips  have  spoken  in  the  midst  of  the  Church. 
His  tongue  hath  said  that  which  is  just.  The  law 
of  God  is  in  his  Heart." 

The  Abbe  Peyramale,  although,  as  a  faithful  and 
pious  son  of  the  Church,  fully  convinced  of  the 
possibility  of  the  Apparitions,  experienced  some 
difficulty  in  believing  in  the  divine  reality  of  this 
extraordinary  Vision  which,  according  to  the  state- 
ment  of  a  child,  was  making  itself  manifest  on  the 
banks  of  the  Gave,  in  a  grotto,  hitherto  unknown, 
of  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  He  would  doubtless 
have  been  convinced  by  the  aspect  of  her  ecstacy  ; 
but  he  had  seen  nothing  of  all  these  things  save 
through  the  eyes  of  strangers,  and  great  doubts  ex- 
isted in  his  mind  respecting  the  reality  of  the  Ap- 
paritions in  the  first  place,  and  secondly  as  regarded 
their  divine  character.  The  Angel  of  Darkness  truly 
transforms  himself  at  times  into  an  Angel  of  Light, 
and  in  such  matters  a  certain  uneasiness  is  quite 
warrantable.  Besides  he  deemed  it  necessary  to 


OUR  LAD 7   OF  LOURDES. 


MQ 


test  the  sincerity  of  the  youthful  Seer  himself.  He 
therefore  received  Bernadette  with  an  expression 
of  mistrust  which  amounted  even  to  severity. 

Although,  as  we  have  already  stated,  he  had 
kept  himself  aloof  from  what  had  been  taking 
place  and  never  in  his  life  spoken  to  Bernadette — 
who  besides  had  only  recently  been  added  to  his 
flock — she  was  known  to  him  by  sight,  some  per- 
sons having  pointed  her  out  to  him  a  day  or  two 
before,  when  she  happened  to  be  passing  in  the 
street. 

"  Are  you  not  Bernadette,  the  daughter  of  Sou- 
oirous?"  said  he  to  her,  when,  having  crossed  the 
garden,  she  presented  herself  before  him. 

The  eminent  priest,  whose  portrait  we  have 
sketched,  had  all  the  familiarity  of  a  father  with 
his  parishioners,  more  especially  with  the  little  chil- 
dren belonging  to  his  flock.  Only  on  that  day  was 
the  tone  of  the  Father  severe. 

"  Yes,  it  is  I,  Monsieur  le  Cure,"  replied  the  hum- 
ble messenger  of  the  Virgin. 

"  Well,  Bernadette,  what  do  you  want  of  me  ? 
What  are  you  coming  to  do  here?"  he  rejoined 
somewhat  harshly,  glancing  at  the  same  time  at 
the  child  with  an  expression  of  cold  reserve  and 
severe  scrutiny,  eminently  calculated  to  disconcert 
a  soul  which  might  not  have  much  confidence  in 
itself. 

"  Monsieur  le  Cur£,  I  come  on  the  part  of  the 
'  Lady*  who  appears  to  me  at  the  Grotto  of  Massa- 
b  elle." 

"  Ah,  yes,"  observed  the  priest,  cutting  her  short, 
**you  pretend  to  have  visions,  and  you  draw  every- 
one after  you  with  your  fabrications.  What  is  all 


120  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

this?  What  has  happened  to  you  within  the  last 
few  days  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  all  these  strange 
things  you  affirm  without  bringing  forward  any- 
thing in  proof  of  them." 

Bernadette  was  grieved,  pei  haps  in  her  innocence, 
surprised  at  the  severe  bearing  and  almost  harsh 
tone  assumed  by  the  Cur6  on  receiving  her,  as  he 
was  usually  so  kind,  paternal  and  mild  with  his 
parishioners,  more  especially  with  the  little  ones. 

She  however  related  simply  all  the  facts  already 
known  to  the  reader,  and  though  she  was  heavy  at 
heart,  her  tale  was  told  without  agitation  and  with 
the  calm  self-possession  of  truth. 

This  man  of  God  could  rise  superior  to  all  his 
personal  prejudices.  Accustomed  from  long  prac- 
tice to  read  the  hearts  of  others,  he  inwardly 
admired,  while  she  was  speaking,  the  wonderful 
character  of  truthfulness  in  this  little  peasant-girl, 
recounting  in  her  rustic  language  occurrences  of  so 
marvelous  a  nature.  Through  her  limpid  eyes, 
behind  her  candid  countenance,  he  perceived  the 
profound  innocence  of  her  highly  privileged  soul. 
It  was  impossible  for  one  of  his  noble  and  upright 
nature  to  hear  that  accent  of  truth  and  survey  those 
pure  and  harmonious  features,  so  stamped  with 
goodness,  without  feeling  himself  inwardly  prompted 
to  believe  the  words  of  the  child,  who  was  then 
speaking. 

The  incredulous  themselves,  as  we  have  already 
explained,  had  ceased  to  arraign  the  sincerity  of  the 
youthful  Seer.  In  her  state  of  ecstacy,  Truth  from 
above  seemed  entirely  to  illuminate  her  and  enter 
within  her.  In  her  accounts  of  what  had  happened, 
Truth  seemed  to  proceed  from  her  person  and 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  121 

spread  its  radiance  around,  filling  the  hearts  of 
others  with  new  ardor  and  scattering,  like  vain 
clouds,  the  confused  objections  of  the  intellect. 
This  extraordinary  child,  in  short,  had  around  her 
brow  as  it  were  an  aureole  of  sincerity,  which  was 
visible  to  the  eyes  of  pure  souls  and  even  to  those 
of  an  opposite  kind,  and  her  words  were  gifted  with 
the  power  of  expelling  doubt. 

In  spite  of  M.  Peyramale's  unbending  and  decided 
character,  in  spite  of  his  strength  of  mind  and  intel- 
lect, in  spite  of  his  profound  distrust,  his  heart  was 
strangely  stirred  with  an  emotion  which  seemed  in- 
explicable by  the  accents  of  Bernadette,  who  was 
so  much  spoken  of  and  to  whom  he  was  now  listen- 
ing for  the  first  time.  This  man,  notwithstanding 
his  strength,  felt  himself  vanquished  by  this  all- 
powerful  weakness.  However,  he  had  too  much 
self-command  and  was  too  prudent  to  allow  himself 
to  be  carried  away  by  an  impression  which,  after 
all,  might  deceive  him.  As  a  mere  individual,  he 
would  probably  have  said  to  the  child,  "  I  believe 
you."  As  Pastor  of  a  vast  flock,  over  which  he  was 
placed  as  the  guardian  of  the  truth,  he  had  deter- 
mined to  surrender  only  to  visible  and  palpable 
proofs.  Not  a  muscle  of  his  face  betrayed  his  in- 
ward agitation.  He  was  able  to  preserve  his  harsh 
and  severe  expression  of  countenance  towards  the 
child. 

"  And  you  do  not  know  the  name  of  this  Lady  ?' 

"  No,"  replied  Bernadette.  "  She  did  not  tell  me 
who  she  was." 

"  Those  who  have  faith  in  your  statements,"  re- 
joined the  Priest,  "  imagine  that  it   s  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary.     But  are  you  aware,"  he  added  with 
6 


122  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDS8. 

a  grave  and  vaguely  menacing  voice,  "  that  if  yotl 
falsely  pretend  to  see  Her  in  this  Grotto,  you  are 
on  the  high  road  never  to  see  Her  in  Heaven  ?  Here, 
you  say  you  alone  see  Her.  Above,  if  you  lie  in 
this  world,  others  will  see  Her,  and,  in  punishment 
of  your  deception  you  will  be  for  ever  far  from  Her, 
for  ever  in  hell." 

"  I  know  not  whether  it  is  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
Monsieur  le  Cure,"  replied  the  child ;  "  but  I  see 
the  Yision  as  I  now  see  you,  and  She  speaks  to  me 
as  you  are  doing  now.  And  I  come  to  tell  you 
from  Her  that  She  wishes  a  chapel  to  be  erected  to 
Her  at  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  where  she  appears 
to  me." 

The  Cure  gazed  on  this  little  girl  while  she  was 
intimating  to  him  this  formal  demand  with  such 
perfect  assurance ;  and,  in  spite  of  his  previous  emo- 
tion, he  could  not  repress  a  smile  at  this  strange 
message  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  humble 
and  childish  appearance  of  the  embassadress  from 
heaven.  The  emotion  of  his  heart  was  succeeded 
by  a  thought  taking  possession  of  his  mind  that  the 
child  was  laboring  under  a  delusion,  and  doubt  re- 
assumed  the  upper  hand. 

He  made  Bernadette  repeat  the  very  terms  em- 
ployed  by  the  Lady  of  the  Grotto. 

"After  having  confided  to  me  the  secret  which 
regards  me  alone  and  which  I  cannot  reveal,  She 
added :  *  And  now  go  to  the  Priests  and  tell  them  I 
wish  they  would  erect  a  chapel  to  me  here.'  " 

The  Priest  remained  silent  for  a  moment.  "  After 
all,"  he  thought,  "  it  is  possible  ! "  And  this  thought 
that  the  Mother  of  God  was  sending  a  direct  mes- 
•age  to  himself,  a  poor  unknown  priest,  filled  him 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  123 

with  trouble  and  agitation.  Then  he  fixed  his  eyes 
on  the  child  and  asked  himself,  "  What  guarantee 
have  I  of  the  truth  of  this  little  girl  and  what  is 
there  to  prove  to  me  that  she  is  not  the  sport  of 
some  error?" 

"  If  the  '  Lady '  of  whom  you  speak  to  me,  is 
really  the  Queen  of  Heaven,"  he  replied,  "  I  should 
be  happy  to  contribute,  so  far  as  my  means  will 
allow,  to  the  erection  of  a  chapel  to  Her;  but  your 
word  is  not  a  certainty.  Nothing  obliges  me  to 
believe  you.  I  do  not  know  who  this  '  Lady '  is, 
and  before  busying  myself  with  her  wishes,  I  would 
know  whether  she  has  a  right  to  make  this  demand. 
Ask  her  then  to  give  me  some  proof  of  her  power." 

The  window  happened  to  be  open  and  the  Priest 
glancing  downward  into  the  garden  perceived  the 
arrest  of  vegetation  and  the  momentary  death 
produced  among  the  plants  by  the  hoar-frosts  of 
winter. 

"  The  Apparition,  you  tell  me,  has  under  its  feet 
i  wild  rose  tree,  an  eglantine,  which  grows  out  of 
the  rock.  We  are  now  in  the  month  of  February. 
Tell  her  from  me  that  if  she  wishes  the  Chapel,  she 
may  cause  the  wild  rose  to  blossom."  Saying 
which  he  dismissed  the  child. 

II. 

IT  was  not  long  before  all  the  details  of  the  con- 
versation, which  had  taken  place  between  Berna- 
dette  and  the  universally  respected  Priest  who  at 
that  time  was  Cure  of  the  town  of  Lourdes,  became 
generally  known. 

"  He  has  given  her  a  sorry  reception,"  observed 


126  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ladies  in  the  neighborhood.  He  has,  himself,  re- 
lated to  us  his  impressions,  which  are  not  liable  to 
any  suspicions. 

"  I  reached  the  spot,"  he  informs  us,  "  much  dis- 
posed to  examine  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  to  laugh 
and  enjoy  myself  thoroughly,  expecting  as  I  did  to 
see  a  kind  of  farce  or  some  grotesque  absurdities. 
An  immense  crowd  of  people  massed  themselves  by 
degrees  round  those  wild  rocks.  I  wondered  at  the 
simplicity  of  so  many  blockheads  and  smiled  to  my- 
self at  the  credulity  of  a  crowd  of  devotees  who 
were  kneeling  sanctimoniously  in  front  of  the  rocks. 
We  had  come  very  early  in  the  morning,  and  thanks 
to  my  skill  in  elbowing  the  crowd,  I  had  no  great 
difficulty  in  securing  a  place  in  the  front  ranks.  At 
the  usual  hour,  towards  sunrise,  Bernadette  arrived. 
I  was  near  to  her.  I  remarked  in  her  childish  fea- 
tures that  expression  of  sweetness,  innocence  and 
profound  tranquillity  with  which  I  had  been  struck 
some  days  previously  at  the  residence  of  the  Com- 
missary. She  knelt  down  in  a  perfectly  natural 
manner,  without  ostentation  or  embarrassment,  and 
paying  apparently  little  attention  to  the  crowd 
which  surrounded  her,  precisely  as  if  she  had  been 
alone  in  a  church  or  in  a  solitary  wood,  far  from 
human  gaze.  She  drew  out  her  chaplet  and  began 
to  pray.  Shortly  afterwards  her  look  seemed  to 
receive  and  reflect  a  strange  unknown  light ;  it  be- 
came fixed  and  rested  wondering,  ravished  and 
radiant  with  happiness  on  the  opening  in  the  rock. 
I  turned  my  eyes  in  the  same  direction,  but  I  saw 
nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  except  the  naked 
branches  of  the  wild-rose.  And  yet,  must  I  confess 
i*  to  you?  In  face  of  the  transfiguration  of  the 


OUR  LAD 7  OF  LOU1WES. 


12? 


child,  all  my  former  prejudices,  all  my  philoso- 
phical objections,  all  my  preconceived  negations 
fell  at  once  to  the  ground  and  cleared  the  way 
for  an  extraordinary  feeling  which  took  posses- 
sion of  me  in  spite  of  myself.  I  had  the  certi- 
tude, the  irresistible  intuition  that  a  mysterious 
being  was  there.  My  eyes  did  not  see  it ;  but  my 
soul  and  the  souls  of  the  innumerable  witnesses  of 
this  solemn  hour  saw  it  as  I  did,  with  the  inner 
light  of  evidence.  Yes,  I  attest  the  fact  that  a 
divine  being  was  there.  Suddenly  and  completely 
transfigured  Bernadette  was  no  longer  Bernadette. 
It  was  an  Angel  from  heaven  plunged  in  indescrib- 
able ravishment.  She  had  no  longer  the  same  coun- 
tenance ;  another  cast  of  intelligence,  another  life, 
I  was  going  to  say  another  stamp  of  soul  was  de- 
picted upon  it.  She  bore  no  longer  any  resem- 
blance to  herself,  and  it  seemed  as  if  she  was  a  per- 
fectly different  person.  Her  attitude,  her  slightest 
gestures,  the  manner,  for  instance,  in  which  she 
made  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  had  a  nobility,  dignity, 
and  grandeur,  exceeding  anything  human.  She 
opened  her  eyes  wide  as  if  insatiable  of  seeing  — 
wide  open  and  almost  motionless :  she  was  afraid, 
it  would  seem,  to  droop  her  eye-lids  and  to  lose  for 
a  single  moment  the  ravishing  sight  of  the  marvel 
she  was  contemplating.  She  smiled  at  that  invisi- 
ble being,  and  all  this  conveyed  the  fullest  idea  of 
ecstacy  and  beatitude.  I  was  not  less  moved  than 
the  rest  of  the  spectators.  Like  them,  I  held  my 
breath,  in  order  to  endeavor  to  hear  the  colloquy 
which  was  being  carried  on  between  the  Vision  and 
the  child.  The  latter  listened  with  an  expression 
of  the  most  profound  respect,  or  to  express  it  better 


126  OUR  LADY  OF  GOURDES. 

ladies  in  the  neighborhood.  He  has,  himself,  re- 
lated to  us  his  impressions,  which  are  not  liable  to 
any  suspicions. 

"  I  reached  the  spot,"  he  informs  us,  "  much  dis- 
posed to  examine  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  to  laugh 
and  enjoy  myself  thoroughly,  expecting  as  I  did  to 
see  a  kind  of  farce  or  some  grotesque  absurdities. 
An  immense  crowd  of  people  massed  themselves  by 
degrees  round  those  wild  rocks.  I  wondered  at  the 
simplicity  of  so  many  blockheads  and  smiled  to  my- 
self at  the  credulity  of  a  crowd  of  devotees  who 
were  kneeling  sanctimoniously  in  front  of  the  rocks. 
We  had  come  very  early  in  the  morning,  and  thanks 
to  my  skill  in  elbowing  the  crowd,  I  had  no  great 
difficulty  in  securing  a  place  in  the  front  ranks.  At 
the  usual  hour,  towards  sunrise,  Bernadette  arrived. 
I  was  near  to  her.  I  remarked  in  her  childish  fea- 
tures that  expression  of  sweetness,  innocence  and 
profound  tranquillity  with  which  I  had  been  struck 
some  days  previously  at  the  residence  of  the  Com- 
missary. She  knelt  down  in  a  perfectly  natural 
manner,  without  ostentation  or  embarrassment,  and 
paying  apparently  little  attention  to  the  crowd 
which  surrounded  her,  precisely  as  if  she  had  been 
alone  in  a  church  or  in  a  solitary  wood,  far  from 
human  gaze.  She  drew  out  her  chaplet  and  began 
to  pray.  Shortly  afterwards  her  look  seemed  to 
receive  and  reflect  a  strange  unknown  light ;  it  be- 
came fixed  and  rested  wondering,  ravished  and 
radiant  with  happiness  on  the  opening  in  the  rock. 
I  turned  my  eyes  in  the  same  direction,  but  I  saw 
nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  except  the  naked 
branches  of  the  wild-rose.  And  yet,  must  I  confess 
i*  to  you?  In  face  of  the  transfiguration  of  the 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDES. 


12; 


child,  all  my  former  prejudices,  all  my  philoso- 
phical  objections,  all  my  preconceived  negations 
fell  at  once  to  the  ground  and  cleared  the  way 
for  an  extraordinary  feeling  which  took  posses- 
sion of  me  in  spite  of  myself.  I  had  the  certi- 
tude, the  irresistible  intuition  that  a  mysterious 
being  was  there.  My  eyes  did  not  see  it ;  but  my 
soul  and  the  souls  of  the  innumerable  witnesses  of 
this  solemn  hour  saw  it  as  I  did,  with  the  inner 
light  of  evidence.  Yes,  I  attest  the  fact  that  a 
divine  being  was  there.  Suddenly  and  completely 
transfigured  Bernadette  was  no  longer  Bernadette. 
It  was  an  Angel  from  heaven  plunged  in  indescrib- 
able ravishment.  She  had  no  longer  the  same  coun- 
tenance ;  another  cast  of  intelligence,  another  life, 
I  was  going  to  say  another  stamp  of  soul  was  de- 
picted upon  it.  She  bore  no  longer  any  resem- 
blance to  herself,  and  it  seemed  as  if  she  was  a  per- 
fectly different  person.  Her  attitude,  her  slightest 
gestures,  the  manner,  for  instance,  in  which  she 
made  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  had  a  nobility,  dignity, 
and  grandeur,  exceeding  anything  human.  She 
opened  her  eyes  wide  as  if  insatiable  of  seeing  — 
wide  open  and  almost  motionless :  she  was  afraid, 
it  would  seem,  to  droop  her  eye-lids  and  to  lose  for 
a  single  moment  the  ravishing  sight  of  the  marvel 
she  was  contemplating.  She  smiled  at  that  invisi- 
ble being,  and  all  this  conveyed  the  fullest  idea  of 
ecstacy  and  beatitude.  I  was  not  less  moved  than 
the  rest  of  the  spectators.  Like  them,  I  held  my 
breath,  in  order  to  endeavor  to  hear  the  colloquy 
which  was  being  carried  on  between  the  Vision  and 
the  child.  The  latter  listened  with  an  expression 
of  the  most  profound  respect,  or  to  express  it  better 


128  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ol  the  most  absolute  adoration  mingled  with  bound- 
less  love  and  the  sweetest  ravishment.  Sometimes 
a  shade  of  sorrow  passed  over  her  countenance,  but 
its  habitual  expression  was  one  of  extreme  joy.  I 
observed  that,  at  intervals  of  a  few  moments,  she 
ceased  to  breath.  During  the  whole  of  this  time 
she  had  her  chaplet  in  her  hand,  sometimes  motion- 
less (for  ever  and  anon  she  seemed  to  forget  it  in 
order  to  lose  herself  entirely  in  the  contemplation 
of  the  divine  Being),  sometimes  gliding  the  beads 
more  or  less  regularly  through  her  fingers.  Each 
of  her  movements  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
expression  of  her  countenance,  which  denoted  by 
turns  admiration,  prayer  and  joy.  She  made  from 
time  to  time  those  signs  of  the  Cross,  so  pious,  so 
noble  and  so  imprinted  with  power,  of  which  I  have 
just  spoken.  If  the  denizens  of  Heaven  make  the 
signs  of  the  Cross,  they  will  assuredly  resemble  those 
made  by  Bernadette  in  her  state  of  ecstacy.  This 
gesture  of  the  child,  restricted  as  it  was,  seemed  to 
a  certain  extent  to  embrace  the  Infinite. 

"At  a  certain  moment  Bernadette  quitted  the 
spot  where  she  was  praying  on  the  bank  of  the 
Gave,  and  without  rising  from  her  knees  proceeded 
to  the  interior  of  the  Grotto.  It  is  a  distance  of 
about  forty-five  feet.  While  she  was  mounting  this 
somewhat  abrupt  slope,  the  persons  who  were  on 
her  route,  heard  her  very  distinctly  pronounce  the 
words  '  Penitence  !  penitence !  penitence ! ' 

'<  A  few  moments  afterwards  she  rose  and  walked 
in  the  midst  of  the  crowd  towards  the  town.  She 
had  subsided  into  a  poor  little  tattered  girl,  who  to 
all  appearance  had  taken  no  more  part  in  this  ex- 
traordinary spectacle  than  those  around  her." 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 


I2g 


However,  while  all  this  scene  was  being  enacted 
the  wild  rose  had  not  blossomed.  Its  bare  and  un- 
attractive branches  wound  motionless  along  the 
rock,  and  in  vain  had  the  multitude  awaited  the  fra 
grant  and  charming  miracle  which  had  been  de 
manded  by  the  chief  pastor  of  the  town. 

It  was,  however,  a  remarkable  circumstance  that 
this  fact  did  not  seem  to  stagger  the  belief  of  the 
faithful ;  and  notwithstanding  this  apparent  protes- 
tation on  the  part  of  inanimate  nature  against  all 
supernatural  power,  many  considerable  men,  and 
among  others  the  one  whose  account  of  the  occur 
rence  we  have  just  given,  felt  themselves  converted 
to  belief  on  witnessing  the  transfiguration  of  the 
youthful  Seer. 

The  crowd,  as  was  always  the  case,  minutely  ex- 
amined the  Grotto  at  the  close  of  the  ecstacy,  when 
the  child  had  taken  her  departure.  M.  Estrade, 
like  all  the  rest,  explored  it  with  the  greatest  atten- 
tion. Every  one  sought  to  discover  something  ex- 
traordinary in  it,  but  there  was  nothing  in  it  to 
strike  the  eye.  It  was  an  ordinary  cavity  in  a  hard 
rock  and  its  surface  was  perfectly  dry  in  every  di- 
rection with  the  exception  of  the  entrance  and  that 
part  exposed  to  the  west,  when,  during  wet  weather, 
the  wind  dnving  the  rain  produced  a  temporary 
humidity. 

IV. 

*'  WELL,  have  you  seen  her  to-day,  and  what  has 
she  said  to  you  ?"  demanded  the  Cur6  of  Lourdes, 
when  Bernadette  had  presented  herself  at  his  house 
on  her  return  from  the  Grotto. 
6* 


LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

"  I  have  seen  the  Vision,"  replied  the  child,  "  and 
I  said  to  her  '  Monsieur  le  Curd  requests  you  to 
furnish  him  with  some  proofs,  as  for  instance,  to 
cause  the  wild  rose  which  is  under  your  feet  to 
blossom,  because  my  word  alone  does  not  satisfy 
the  Priests,  and  they  will  not  rely  on  me.'  Then  she 
smiled  but  said  nothing.  Afterwards  she  bade  me 
pray  for  sinners,  and  commanded  me  to  ascend  to 
the  bottom  of  the  Grotto.  And  she  cried  out  three 
times  the  words  '  Penitence !  penitence  !  penitence !' 
which  I  repeated  as  I  dragged  myself  on  my  knees 
as  far  as  the  bottom  of  the  Grotto.  There  she  im- 
parted to  me  a  second  secret  which  regards  myself 
alone.  Then  she  disappeared." 

"  And  what  have  you  found  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Grotto  ?  " 

"  I  looked  after  She  had  disappeared  (for  as  long  as 
She  is  there  my  attention  is  fixed  on  Her  alone  and 
She  entirely  absorbs  me),  and  saw  nothing  but  the 
rock,  and  on  the  ground  a  few  blades  of  grass  which 
were  growing  in  the  midst  of  the  dust." 

The  priest  remained  absorbed  in  a  kind  of  rev- 
erie. 

"  Let  us  wait,"  said  he  to  himself. 

The  same  evening,  the  Abb£  Peyramale  related 
this  interview  to  the  vicaires  of  Lourdes  and  some 
priests  from  the  neighborhood.  They  rallied  their 
Dean  on  the  apparent  failure  of  his  demand. 

"  If  it  is  the  Blessed  Virgin,"  they  said  to  him, 
"  this  smile  or.  the  receipt  of  your  request,  appears 
to  us  as  unfavorable  for  you  ;  and  irony  from  so  ex- 
alted a  quarter  strikes  us  as  alarming." 

The  Cur<3  extricated  himself  from  this  view  of  the 
question  with  his  usual  presence  of  mind. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  131 

"  This  smile  is  in  my  favor,"  he  replied ;  "  the 
Blessed  Virgin  is  no  scoffer.  If  I  had  spoken  ill, 
she  would  not  have  smiled,  she  would  have  been 
moved  to  pity  at  my  plea.  She  smiled  ;  therefore 
she  approves." 

V. 

THERE  was  certainly  some  truth  in  the  Abbe 
Peyramale's  sly  repartee  ;  but,  perhaps,  not  so  much 
as  he  was  inclined  to  think.  Surely,  if  at  that  mo- 
ment with  his  profound  sagacity  and  high-minded- 
ness,  he  had  maturely  reflected  on  the  words  which 
the  Celestial  Vision  had  pronounced  a  short  time 
after  having  smiled,  he  would  have  comprehended 
the  meaning  of  the  smile  which  the  poor  child,  fa- 
vored though  she  was  with  such  visions,  was  un- 
able to  interpret. 

"  To  pray  for  sinners,  to  do  penance,  to  climb  kneel- 
ing the  steep  and  difficult  slope  which  leads  from 
the  rapid  and  tumultuous  waves  of  the  torrent  to 
the  unchangeable  rock  on  which  one  of  the  sanctu- 
aries of  the  Church  was  to  be  founded," — such  had 
been  the  commands  of  the  Apparition  at  the  close 
of  the  child's  prayer;  such  had  been  Her  answer  to 
the  request  that  She  should  cause  the  wild-rose  to 
blossom ;  such  had  been,  from  Her  own  mouth,  the 
plain  and  clear  commentary  on  Her  smile.  Who 
does  not  see  after  due  reflection,  the  admirable 
meaning  of  this  symbolic  response  ? 

"  And  what,  even  though  I  am  the  Mother  of  the 
God-Saviour,  the  Mother  of  that  Jesus  who  spent 
his  life  in  doing  good  and  in  consoling  the  afflicted, 
could  they  demand  nothing  from  me  as  a  proof  of  my 


132  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

power  but  this  idle  and  frail  marvel,  which  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  who  is  my  Servant,  will  perform  of  them- 
selves a  few  days  hence  ?  When  a  multitude  of  sin- 
ners, indifferent  or  hostile  to  the  law  of  God,  covers 
the  surface  of  the  globe  ;  when  whole  nations,  either 
guilty  or  led  astray,  quench  their  thirst  at  the  poi- 
soned stream  of  this  world  or  at  the  turbid  torrents 
which  rush  down  to  the  abyss ;  when  they  have 
need,  above  all  things,  to  scale  on  their  knees  the 
rugged  path  which  separates  the  fleeting  and  trou- 
bled life  of  the  flesh  from  the  unchangeable  life  of 
the  spirit ;  when  the  salvation  of  so  many  outcasts 
and  the  healing  of  so  many  sick  in  soul  is  the  con- 
stant study  of  my  maternal  heart,  am  I  not  to  give 
better  proofs  of  my  Power  and  Goodness  than  to 
make  roses  bloom  in  the  depth  of  winter  ?  and  is 
it  for  so  trifling  an  amusement  that  I  appear  to  a 
young  girl  of  earth  and  open  my  hands  full  of  graces 
before  her?" 

Such  was,  it  appears  to  us,  as  far  as  it  is  permitted 
to  a  wretched  man  to  penetrate  and  interpret  things 
so  lofty  in  their  nature,  the  deep  meaning  of  the 
smile  and  the  commands  by  which  the  Mother  of 
the  human  race  replied  to  the  request  of  the  Pastor 
of  Lourdes.  God,  more  especially  in  evil  and  ne- 
cessitous times,  does  not  condescend  to  fritter  away 
(if  we  may  use  the  expression),  his  omnipotence  in 
vain  prodigies  which  only  strike  the  eye,  or  in  ephem- 
eral wonders  which  would  wither  before  the  close 
of  day  and  be  carried  away  by  the  first  blast  of  wind. 
When  it  is  His  will  to  found  aught  eternal,  He  sup- 
ports it  by  some  eternal  proof  which  future  ages 
will  not  be  able  to  impair. 

What,  meanwhile,  was  the   signification   of  th« 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


133 


command  received  by  Bernadette  to  scale  on  her 
knees  the  surface  of  the  Grotto  until  her  progress 
was  arrested  by  the  escarpment  of  the  parched 
rock?  No  one  knew  ;  and,  in  the  presence  of  that 
arid  rock,  no  one  dreamed  that,  from  the  moment  the 
Synagogue  had  committed  self-murder  while  think- 
ing to  slay  Jesus,  th.e  staff  of  Moses  had  passed  as 
an  heir-loom  to  the  people  of  Christ. 

The  Cur6  of  Lourdes,  despite  the  lofty  range  of 
his  mind,  did  not  at  once  see  these  things  which  the 
future  was  to  make  so  clear.  The  strong  doubts  he 
cherished  within  him  of  the  reality  of  the  Appari- 
tion prevented  him  from  meditating  carefully  on  the 
various  circumstances  connected  with  the  scene  at 
the  Grotto,  and  fixing  on  them  that  clear  glance 
which  he  usually  threw  on  the  things  pertaining  to 
God. 

The  Free-thinkers  of  the  place,  although  some- 
what disconcerted  at  the  conversions  produced  that 
day  at  the  Rocks  of  Massabi-elle  by  the  extraordi- 
nary splendor  of  Bernadette's  transfiguration,  tri- 
umphed exceedingly  at  the  check  the  believers  had 
met  with,  in  regard  to  the  humble  a^d  graceful 
proof  which  had  been  demanded  by  M.  Peyramale. 
They  praised  the  latter  even  more  than  they  had 
done  on  the  previous  day  for  having  exacted  a  mir- 
acle. 

"  Jacomet,"  they  said,  "  was  guilty  of  a  blunder 
m  wishing  to  kill  the  Apparition :  the  Cure,  with 
much  greater  shrewdness,  forces  her  to  commit  sui- 
cide." Incapable  of  appreciating  the  loyal  simpli- 
city  of  his  impartial  wisdom,  which,  doubtless,  de- 
manded some  proofs  before  either  believing  or 
rejecting  the  matter,  they  attributed  to  cralt  what 


134  OUB  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

was  really  the  result  of  prudence,  and  detected  a 
snare  in  the  simple  prayer  of  an  upright  soul  which 
was  in  quest  of  truth.  As  we  see,  on  this  occasion, 
these  gentlemen  were  almost  on  the  point  of  paying 
the  Cur£  of  Lourdes  the  high  compliment — which 
he  certainly  did  not  deserve — of  reckoning  him  as 
one  of  their  own  number, 

VI. 

THE  honorable  M.  Jacomet,  in  the  meanwhile, 
seemed  to  be  annoyed  with  himself  for  not  having 
surprised  the  imposture  in  the  very  act,  and  crushed 
the  growing  superstition  by  his  own  personal  exer- 
tions. He  racked  his  brains  to  guess  the  answer  to 
the  enigma,  for  he  began  to  see  clearly,  from  the 
very  demand  made  by  the  Cure  of  Lourdes,  that  the 
Clergy  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter.  He  had, 
therefore,  only  the  little  girl  and  her  parents  to  deal 
with.  He  never  for  a  moment  doubted,  that  some- 
how or  other,  he  would  settle  the  affair  to  his  satis- 
faction. 

When  Bernadette  chanced  to  make  her  appear- 
ance on  the  street,  the  crowd  eagerly  pressed  round 
her:  at  every  step  she  was  stopped  by  some  one, 
and  every  one  wished  to  hear  from  her  mouth  the 
details  of  the  Apparitions.  Several  persons,  among 
others  M.  Dufo,  an  advocate  and  one  of  the  eminent 
men  of  the  place,  sent  for  her  and  asked  her  numer- 
ous questions.  They  did  not  resist  the  secret  pow- 
er which  the  living  Truth  imparted  to  her  words. 

Many  persons  repaired  in  the  course  of  the  day  to 
the  house  of  the  Soubirous  to  hear  Bernadette's 
account  of  the  affair.  She  submitted  with  all  sim 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  135 

plicit.y  and  complaisance  to  these  incessant  mterro 
gations,  and  it  was  plain  that,  from  that  time  forth, 
she   considered  it  her  peculiar  office  and  duty  to 
bear  witness  to  all  that  she  had  seen  and  heard. 

In  a  corner  of  the  room  in  which  visitors  were 
received,  there  was  a  little  shrine  adorned  with 
flowers,  medals  and  holy  images,  and  surmounted 
by  a  statue  of  the  Virgin,  which  gave  it  an  appear- 
ance of  luxury  and  attested  the  piety  of  the  family. 
All  the  rest  of  the  chamber  showed  signs  of  tho 
most  wretched  destitution ;  a  pallet-bed,  a  few  rick- 
ety chairs,  and  a  miserable  table,  comprised  all  the 
furniture  of  the  dwelling  in  which  crowds  came  to 
learn  the  splendid  secrets  of  heaven.  The  majority 
of  visitors  were  struck  and  touched  by  the  sight  of 
such  extreme  indigence  stamped  on  everything,  and 
could  not  resist  the  pleasing  temptation  of  leaving 
these  poor  people  some  present, — some  trifling  alms. 
This,  however,  the  child  and  her  parents  invariably 
refused  so  peremptorily,  that  they  could  not  press 
anything  on  them. 

Many  among  these  visitors  were  strangers  to  the 
town.  One  of  the  latter  came  to  the  house  one 
evening  at  an  hour  when  the  throng  of  visitors  had 
subided,  and  there  only  remained  a  neighbor  or  a 
relation  of  the  family  sitting  at  the  fireside.  He 
carefully  interrogated  Bernadette,  desiring  her  not 
to  omit  the  slightest  detail,  and  appearing  to  take 
an  extraordinary  interest  in  the  child's  narration. 
Every  moment  he  betrayed  his  enthusiasm  and  faith 
by  the  most  tender  exclamations.  He  congratula- 
ted Bernadette  on  having  received  so  great  a  favol 
from  heaven,  and  then  compassionated  the  want  of 
which  he  saw  around  him  so  many  marks. 


136  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

"  I  am  rich,"  said  he ;  "  allow  me  to  assist  you.  * 

He  placed  on  the  table  a  purse,  which  he  hali 
opened,  showing  that  it  was  full  of  gold. 

A  flush  of  indignation  mantled  Bernadette's  coun 
tenance. 

"  I  do  not  wish  xor  anything,  Sir,"  she  observed 
eagerly.  "  Take  it  back  again." 

And  she  pushed  the  purse,  which  had  been  placed 
on  the  table,  towards  the  unknown  gentleman. 

"  It  is  not  for  you,  my  child,  it  is  for  your  parents, 
who  are  in  want,  and  you  cannot  hinder  me  from 
succoring  them." 

"  We  do  not  wish  to  have  anything,  nor  Bernv 
dette  either !"  exclaimed  her  parents. 

"  You  are  poor,"  continued  the  stranger,  insisting 
in  his  offer.  "  I  have  put  you  out  of  your  way,  and 
I  take  an  interest  in  you.  Is  it  from  pride  that  you 
refuse  me  ?" 

"  No,  Sir ;  but  we  do  not  want  anything.  Take 
back  your  gold." 

The  unknown  took  back  his  purse  and  left  the 
house,  with  an  expression  of  much  annoyano;  on 
his  countenance. 

Where  did  this  man  come  from,  and  who  was  he  ? 
Was  he  a  compassionate  benefactor  or  a  crafty 
tempter?  We  know  not.  The  police  arrangements 
were  so  excellent  at  Lourdes,  that  perhaps  M. 
Jacomet,  more  fortunate  in  this  respect  than  our- 
selves, knew  the  secret,  and  could  solve  the  riddle 
better  than  any  one  else. 

If,  then,  by  one  of  those  accidents  which  some- 
times occur  in  matters  of  police,  the  cunning  Com 
missary  heard  that  very  evening  the  details  of 
this  scene  between  Bernadette  and  this  mysterious 


OUE  LADT  OF  LOURDE8.  137 

stranger,  he  must  have  allowed  that  snares  and 
temptations  were  as  useless  against  tnis  extraordi- 
nary child  as  captious  questions  and  violent  threats 
had  already  proved.  The  difficulties  attending  the 
unravelling  of  this  affair  increased  for  this  man, 
who  was  yet  so  superlatively  shrewd  and  so  expert 
in  merely  human  matters.  If  he  had  been  surprised 
at  the  complete  impossibility  of  producing  the 
slightest  contradiction  in  Bernadette's  recital,  he 
was  plunged  into  a  state  of  absolute  stupor  by  her 
disinterestedness  and  the  firmness  she  had  displayed 
in  rejecting  a  purse  full  of  gold. 

Such  conduct  would  have  been  easily  explained 
in  the  mind  of  the  sagacious  Commissary  had  not 
the  demand  of  some  visible  proof,  of  a  miracle,  of 
the  impossible  blossoming  of  the  wild  rose,  which 
the  Cur6  had  made,  proved,  beyond  a  shadow  ot 
doubt,  that  the  Clergy  were  not  lurking  behind  the 
youthful  Seer.  But  Bernadette  and  her  parents,  left 
to  their  own  resources,  poor,  in  distress,  wanting 
for  bread,  and  still  not  deriving  any  profit  from  the 
popular  enthusiasm  and  credulity — this  was  a  thing 
altogether  inconceivable. 

Had  the  little  girl  invented  the  imposture  merely 
to  make  herself  talked  about  ?  But,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  fact  that  there  appeared  little  probability  of 
such  an  ambition  in  the  mind  of  a  little  shepherd- 
maid,  what  explanation  could  be  offered  for  the  in- 
defeasible unity  of  her  narration  and  her  disinter- 
estedness, which  extended  even  to  the  members  of 
her  family,  who  were  all  extremely  poor,  and,  con- 
sequently, sorely  tempted  to  turn  the  blind  cre- 
dulity of  the  multitude  to  their  own  advantage. 

M.  Jacomet  was  not  the  man  to  flinch  because 


138  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDB8. 

the  case  was  attended  with  some  insoluble  objec- 
tions, and  he  confidently  awaited  the  turn  of  events, 
little  doubting  that  a  triumph  was  in  store  for  him, 
which  would  only  be  rendered  more  glorious  from 
the  fact  that  at  first  it  had  been  beset  with  difficul- 
ties and  obstacles. 

VII. 

THE  night  had  ended  the  agitations  of  so  many 
minds  so  differently  influenced,  some  believing  in 
the  reality  of  the  Apparition,  others  remaining  in  a 
state  of  doubt,  while  a  certain  number  persisted  in 
denying  the  fact. 

Day  was  about  to  break,  and  the  universal  Church, 
over  all  the  surface  of  the  Globe,  was  murmuring  in 
the  interior  of  Temples,  in  the  silence  of  solitary 
Presbyteries,  in  the  peopled  shade  of  Cloisters,  be- 
neath the  vaulted  roofs  of  Abbeys,  Monasteries  and 
Convents,  those  words  of  the  Psalmist  in  the  Office 
of  Matins  :  Tu  es  Deus  qui  facts  mirabilia.  Notam 

fecisti  in  populis  virtutem  tuam Viderunt  te 

aquae  Deus,  viderunt  te  aquae,  et  imuerient,  et  tur- 
batce  sunt  abyssi.  "  Thou  art  the  God  who  workest 
marvels.  Thou  hast  shown  forth  Thy  power  in  the 

midst  of  the  multitudes The  waters  saw  Thee, 

0  Lord,  the  waters  saw  Thee,  and  they  trembled  in 
Thy  presence  and  the  depths  were  troubled." 

Barnadette,  having  arrived  before  the  Rocks  of 
Massabielle,  had  just  knelt  down. 

An  innumerable  crowd  had  preceded  her  to  the 
Grotto  and  pressed  around  her.  Although  there 
were  there  a  good  number  of  sceptics,  of  such 
as  denied  the  truth  of  the  Apparition,  and  of  others 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOUBDES.  139 

who  came  merely  from  motives  of  curiosity,  a 
religious  silence  suddenly  prevailed  as  soon  as  the 
child  had  been  perceived.  A  shudder  had  passed 
through  the  crowd  like  a  shock  of  electricity.  A1V, 
by  a  unanimous  instinct,  the  incredulous  as  well 
as  believers,  had  uncovered  their  heads.  Several 
had  kneeled  down  at  the  same  time  as  the  daughter 
of  the  miller. 

At  that  moment  the  divine  Apparition  manifested 
Herself  to  Bernadette,  who  was  suddenly  trans- 
ported into  her  marvelous  ecstacy.  As  was  always 
the  case,  the  radiant  Virgin  stood  in  the  oval  exca- 
vation  of  the  rock,  and  her  feet  rested  on  the  wild 
rose. 

Bernadette  contemplated  her  witn  an  inexpress- 
ible  sentiment  of  love,  a  sentiment  sweet  and  deep, 
which  overflowed  her  soul  with  delight,  without  at 
all  disturbing  her  mind  or  causing  her  to  forget 
she  was  still  upon  earth. 

The  Mother  of  God  loved  this  innocent  child. 
She  wished,  by  a  still  closer  intimacy,  to  press  her 
yet  more  to  her  bosom  ;  She  wished  to  strengthen 
still  more  the  bond  which  united  Her  to  the  humble 
shepherd-girl,  in  order  that  the  latter,  amid  all  the 
agitations  of  this  world,  might  feel,  so  to  say,  every 
moment,  that  the  Queen  of  Heaven  held  her  invis- 
ibly by  the  hand. 

"  My  child,"  she  said,  "  I  wish  to  impart  to  you, 
always  for  you  alone,  and  concerning  you  alone,  a 
test  secret,  which,  as  with  the  other  two,  you  will 
never  reveal  to  any  one  in  the  world." 

We  have  explained  further  back  t  he  profound  rea- 
sons which  formed,  out  of  these  intimate  confidences, 
the  future  safeguard  of  Bernadette,  amidst  the  mora 


140  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

dangers  to  which  the  extraordinary  favors,  of  whicfc 
she  was  the  object,  must  inevitably  expose  her.  By 
this  triple  secret,  the  Virgin  clothed  her  messenger, 
as  it  were,  with  armor  of  three-fold  strength  against 
the  dangers  and  temptations  of  life. 

Bernadette,  in  the  exceeding  joy  of  her  heart, 
listened,  in  the  meanwhile,  to  the  ineffable  music  of 
that  voice  so  sweet,  so  maternal,  so  tender,  which, 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  had  charmed  the  filial 
ears  of  the  Infant-God. 

"And  now,"  rejoined  the  Virgin,  after  a  short 
silence,  go  and  drink  from,  and  wash  yourself  in 
the  Fountain,  and  eat  of  the  herb  which  is  growing 
at  its  side." 

Bernadette,  at  this  word  "  Fountain, "  gazed 
around  her.  There  was,  and  never  had  been,  any 
Spring  in  that  spot.  The  child,  without  losing 
sight  of  the  Virgin,  betook  herself  quite  naturally 
towards  the  Gave,  whose  tumultuous  waters  were 
rushing  a  few  paces  from  there,  across  pebbles  and 
broken  rocks. 

A  word  and  a  gesture  from  the  Appantion  arrest- 
ed her  in  her  course. 

"  Do  not  go  there,"  said  the  Virgin ;  "  I  have  not 
spoken  of  drinking  from  the  Gave ;  go  to  the 
Fountain,  it  is  here." 

And  stretching  out  Her  hand — th?tt  delicate  yet 
powerful  hand  —  to  which  nature  submits,  She 
showed  with  her  finger  to  the  child,  on  the  right 
side  of  the  Grotto,  the  same  parched  corner  to- 
wards which,  but  the  morning  before,  She  had 
made  her  ascend  on  her  knees. 

Although  she  saw  nothing  in  the  place  pointed 
out  to  her  which  appeared  to  have  any  connection 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOVRDE8.  141 

with  the  words  of  the  divine  Being,  Bernadette 
obeyed  the  command  of  the  heavenly  Vision.  The 
vaulted  roof  of  the  Grotto  sloped  downwards  on 
this  side,  and  the  little  girl  scrambled  on  her  knees 
the  short  distance  she  had  to  traverse. 

On  reaching  the  end,  she  did  not  perceive  before 
her  the  least  appearance  of  a  fountain.  On  the 
face  of  the  rock  there  sprung  here  and  there  some 
tufts  of  that  herb  belonging  to  the  Saxifrage  family, 
which  is  call  la  Dorine. 

Whether  it  was  owing  to  a  new  sign  from  the 
Apparition,  or  to  an  inward  impulse  of  her  soul, 
Bernadette,  with  that  simple  faith  so  pleasing  to 
the  heart  of  God,  stooped  down,  and,  scratching 
the  ground  with  her  tiny  hands,  began  to  scoop  out 
the  earth. 

The  innumerable  spectators  of  this  scene,  as  they 
neither  heard  nor  saw  the  Apparition,  did  not  know 
what  to  think  of  this  singular  operation  on  the 
part  of  the  child.  Many  already  began  to  smile, 
and  to  believe  in  some  derangement  of  the  poor 
shepherd-girl's  brain.  How  little  is  needed  to  shake 
our  faith. 

All  at  once  the  bottom  of  this  little  cavity  dug 
by  the  child  became  damp.  Arriving  from  un- 
known depths,  across  rocks  of  marble  and  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  a  mysterious  water  began  to 
spring  up,  drop  by  drop  from  beneath  the  hands 
of  Bernadette,  and  to  fill  the  hollow,  about  the  size 
of  a  goblet,  which  she  had  just  completed. 

This  water,  newly  come  mixing  itself  with  the 
earth  broken  by  Bernadette's  hands,  formed  at 
first  nothing  but  mud.  Three  times  did  Bernadette 
essay  to  raise  this  muddy  liquid  to  her  lips ;  but 


/42  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

three  times  was  her  feeling  of  disgust  so  strong 
that  she  rejected  it,  feeling  she  had  not  the  power 
of  swallowing  it.  However  she  wished,  before 
everything  else,  to  obey  the  radiant  Apparition 
who  towered  over  this  strange  scene ;  and  the 
fourth  time,  making  a  grand  effort,  she  surmounted 
her  repugnance.  She  drank,  she  washed  herselt, 
and  she  ate  a  morsel  of  the  wild  plant  which  grew 
at  the  foot  of  the  rock. 

At  that  moment  the  water  of  the  Spring  over- 
leaped the  brim  of  the  little  reservoir  hollowed  by 
the  child,  and  proceeded  to  flow  in  a  slender 
stream,  more  slender,  perhaps,  than  a  straw,  to- 
wards the  crowd  which  was  pressing  on  the  front 
of  the  Grotto. 

This  stream  was  so  extremely  small  that  for  a 
long  time — until  the  close,  in  fact,  of  that  day — the 
parched  earth  sucked  it  up  entirely  on  its  passage, 
and  you  could  only  guess  its  progressive  course  by 
the  damp  line,  like  a  ribbon,  which  was  traced  on 
the  ground,  and  which,  increasing  in  length  by  de- 
degrees,  advanced  at  an  extremely  slow  rate  to- 
wards the  Gave. 

When  Bernadette  had  accomplished,  as  we  have 
related  above,  all  the  mandates  she  had  received, 
the  Virgin  gazed  at  her  with  an  expression  of  satis- 
faction, and,  a  moment  afterwards,  She  disappeared 
from  her  sight. 

The  multitude  were  greatly  excited  by  this  prod- 
igy. As  soon  as  Bernadette  emerged  from  her  state 
of  ecstacy,  all  rushed  towards  the  Grotto.  Every 
one  wished  to  see  with  his  own  eyes  the  little  hol- 
low from  which  the  water  had  gushed  from  beneath 
the  hand  of  the  child.  Every  one  wished  to  dip 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 


143 


his  handkerchief  in  it  and  raise  a  drop  of  it  to  his 
lips.  So  this  infant  spring,  in  consequence  of  the 
gradual  enlargement  of  its  reservoir  by  the  crum 
bling  in  of  the  earth,  assumed,  in  a  short  time,  the 
appearance  of  a  puddle  of  water  or  of  a  liquid  mass 
pf  wet  mud.  The  Spring,  however,  seemed  to  in- 
crease in  volume  as  water  was  drawn  from  it,  and 
the  orifice  through  which  it  gushed  from  the  depths 
below  became  visibly  larger. 

"  It  was  some  water  which  must  have  accidentally 
dripped  from  the  rock  during  the  rainy  season,  and 
which,  and  that,  too,  accidentally,  must  have  form- 
ed a  little  pool,  under  the  ground  which  the  child 
has  also  accidentally  discovered,"  said  the  savants 
of  Lourdes. 

And  the  philosophers  remained  perfectly  satisfied 
with  this  explanation. 

The  next  day,  the  Spring,  urged  by  an  unknown 
power  from  the  mysterious  depths,  and  perceptibly 
increasing  in  volume,  gushed  from  the  ground  more 
abundantly. 

The  stream  proceeding  from  it  was  already  about 
the  thickness  of  your  finger.  It  was,  however,  still 
muddy,  owing  to  its  struggles  in  forcing  its  pass- 
age through  the  earth.  It  was  only  at  the  expira 
tion  of  a  few  days  that,  after  having  augmented  to 
a  certain  degree  from  hour  to  hour,  it  ceased  to  in- 
crease, and  became  perfectly  limpid.  From  that 
time  it  gushed  from  the  earth  in  a  jet  of  considerable 
magnitude,  having  almost  reached  the  size  of  a 
child's  arm. 

We  must  not,  however,  anticipate  events,  but 
continue  to  follow  them,  day  by  day,  as  we  have 
done  hitherto.  We  will  now  resume  our  narrative. 


144  OUR  LADY  CF  LOUIIDS8. 

VIII. 

PRECISELY  at  that  hour,  at  the  very  moment  the 
Spring  was  gushing  softly  but  irresistibly  from  be- 
neath the  child's  hand,  in  testimony,  as  it  were 
of  the  divine  intervention,  the  Philosophers  of 
Lourdes  published  a  new  article  on  the  occurrences 
at  the  Grotto  in  the  Free-thinking  journal  of  the 
locality. 

The  Lavedan,  a  newspaper  we  have  already 
quoted,  had  been  issued,  and  was  in  process  of  dis- 
tribution just  at  the  moment  of  the  return  of  the 
amazed  multitudes  from  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle. 

Neither  in  this  article  nor  in  the  preceding  one, 
nor,  indeed,  in  any  of  the  descriptions  of  the  place 
written  at  that  time,  was  there  the  slightest  hint  of 
the  existence  of  any  Spring  at  the  Grotto.  And 
thus  incredulity  had  paralyzed  beforehand  the 
audacious  assertion  that  the  Spring  had  always 
flowed  there,  to  which  the  Free-thinkers  might, 
after  a  certain  time,  be  tempted  to  have  recourse. 
It  was  the  will  of  Providence,  that,  in  addition  to 
the  testimony  of  the  public,  these  men  should  have 
thr:T  own  articles,  their  own  printed  publications, 
which  their  dates  rendered  authentic  and  beyond 
refutation,  brought  against  them.  If  these  beauti 
ful  gushing  waters,  which  delight  the  eye  to-day, 
had  been  in  existence  before  the  2 5th  of  Feb- 
ruary, before  the  scene  we  have  just  described 
was  enacted,  and  the  orders  and  indications  given 
by  the  Virgin  to  Bernadette  in  her  state  of  ecstacy, 
how  came  it  that  the  editors  of  the  papers,  who 
were  always  supposed  to  keep  their  eyes  open,  and 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  145 

whose  details  were  sometimes  so  minute  —  how 
came  it  that  they  never  saw  this  copious  spring 
nor  ever  once  mentioned  it?  We  defy  the  Free 
thinkers  to  produce  a  single  document — we  repeat, 
the  words,  a  single  document — which  makes  any 
mention  of  a  Spring,  or  even  of  any  water,  before 
the  period  when  the  Virgin  commanded  and  Nature 
obeyed. 

IX. 

THE  popular  emotion  had  considerably  increased. 
Bernadette,  when  she  passed,  was  received  with 
acclamation,  and  the  poor  child  used  to  return 
home  with  all  possible  speed  in  order  to  escape 
their  ovations.  This  humble  soul,  which,  up  to 
that  time,  had  lived  entirely  unknown,  in  silence 
and  solitude,  found  itself  all  at  once  placed  in  a 
blaze  of  light,  in  the  midst  of  uproar  and  of  the 
crowd,  on  the  pedestal  of  fame.  This  glory,  which 
so  many  court  so  eagerly,  was  to  her  a  martyrdom 
of  the  most  cruel  description.  Her  most  insignifi- 
cant words  were  commented  on,  discussed,  admired, 
rejected,  made  the  subject  of  scoffs — in  a  word, 
abandoned  to  the  different  currents  of  human  opin- 
ion. It  was  then  she  tasted  the  heartfelt  joy  of 
having  something  she  was  not  to  divulge,  and  of 
finding,  in  the  three  secrets  imparted  to  her  by  the 
Virgin,  a  kind  of  secluded  sanctuary  to  which  her 
heart  might  retire  with  a  sense  of  perfect  peace, 
and  refresh  itself  in  the  shade  of  that  mystery,  and 
with  the  charm  of  its  intimate  union  with  the 
Queen  of  Heaven. 

As  we  have  already  remarked,  the  outburst  of 
7 


146  OUR  LADY  Of  LOURDES. 

the  Fountain  had  taken  place  towards  sunrise  in 
the  presence  of  a  numerous  assemblage.  It  was 
the  25th  of  February,  the  third  Thursday  of  the 
month,  and  a  great  market-day  at  Tarbes.  The 
news,  therefore,  of  the  marvelous  occurrence  of  the 
morning  at  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  was  carried 
to  the  town  by  a  multitude  of  eye-witnesses,  and 
before  night  had  been  spread  through  the  whole 
Department,  and  even  as  far  as  the  nearest  towns 
of  the  neighboring  departments.  The  extraordi- 
nary movement,  which,  for  the  last  eight  days,  had 
attracted  to  Lourdes  so  many  pilgrims  and  others, 
urged  by  mere  curiosity,  was  from  that  moment 
developed  to  a  most  surprising  degree. 

A  great  number  of  visitors  came  to  sleep  at 
Lourdes  in  order  to  be  on  the  spot  next  day ; 
others  walked  all  through  the  night,  and  at  break 
of  day,  the  usual  hour  of  Bernadette's  arrival,  five 
or  six  thousand  persons,  closely  packed  on  the 
banks  of  the  Gave,  the  neighboring  eminences  and 
the  rocks,  were  encamped  in  front  of  the  Grotto. 
The  Spring  had  considerably  increased  in  volume 
since  the  previous  day. 

When  the  youthful  Seer,  humble,  peaceful  and 
simple  in  manner  in  the  midst  of  so  much  commo- 
tion, presented  herself  in  order  to  pray,  the  cry  of 
"  There  is  the  Saint !  There  is  the  Saint !"  arose 
from  the  vast  throng.  Several  persons  sought  to 
touch  her  garments,  regarding  as  sacred  every- 
thing pertaining  to  one  so  privileged  by  the  Lord. 

It  was  not,  however,  the  will  of  the  Mother  of 
the  humble  and  the  lowly  that  this  innocent  heart 
should  succumb  to  the  temptation  of  vain  glory, 
and  that  Bernadetca  should,  for  one  moment.  b«! 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  14; 

puffed  up  with  pride  on  account  of  the  singular 
favors  she  had  received. 

It  was  well  that  the  child  should  feel,  in  the 
midst  of  such  acclamations,  her  own  nothingness, 
and  realize  once  more  how  powerless  she  was,  when 
left  to  herself,  to  evoke  the  divine  Vision.  It  was 
in  vain  she  prayed.  The  superhuman  radiancy  of 
ecstacy  was  not  observed  diffusing  itself  over  her 
features ;  and,  when  she  rose,  after  her  long  prayer, 
she  replied,  in  a  tone  of  sadness  to  the  interroga- 
tions showered  upon  her,  that  the  Vision  from  on 
high  had  not  appeared. 

X. 

THIS  absence  on  the  part  of  the  Virgin  was, 
doubtless,  intended  to  maintain  Bernadette  in  a 
state  of  humility  and  in  the  consciousness  of  her 
own  nothingness ;  but,  in  addition  to  this,  it  con- 
tained, perhaps,  for  Christians,  a  high  and  mysterious 
precept,  the  import  of  which  will  not  escape  the 
attention  of  souls  accustomed  to  contemplate  and 
admire  the  secret  harmony  which  exists  in  works 
proceeding  from  God. 

If  heaven,  on  that  day,  had  closed  itself  to  the 
eyes  of  Bernadette,  if  the  celestial  Creator,  who 
used  to  appear  to  her  in  visible  flesh,  had  seemed 
to  vanish  for  a  moment,  the  Fountain — proof  of  the 
reality  and  power  of  that  superhuman  Being — which 
nad  sprung  forth  the  day  before,  and  was  continu- 
ally increasing,  was  visible  to  the  eyes  of  all,  and 
trickled  on  the  sloping  floor  ot  the  Grotto  in  sight 
of  the  astonished  multitude. 

The  Vision  had  withdrawn  in  order  to  allow  her 


148  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUSDES. 

work,  so  t.o  say,  to  speak.  She  had  withdrawn  and 
remained  silent  in  order  to  allow  an  opportunity  of 
speaking  to  the  Church  of  that  country,  whose 
words  at  the  introit  of  the  Mass  and  at  the  answers 
of  Matins,  might  serve  as  a  commentary  on  this 
singular  fountain  which  had  suddenly  started  into 
existence  from  beneath  the  hand  of  Bernadette  in 
her  state  of  ecstacy. 

While  in  fact  all  this  was  taking  place  at  the 
Grotto,  before  the  miraculous  Spring  which  had 
burst  forth  on  the  right  side  of  the  arid  rock,  the 
memory  of  another  Spring — the  most  illustrious  and 
life-imparting  of  all  those  which  for  the  last  six 
thousand  years  have  watered  the  heritage  of  Adam 
— was  being  celebrated  in  the  diocese  of  Tarbes, 
and  in  several  dioceses  of  France.  That  day,  Feb- 
ruary the  26th,  1858,  being  the  Friday  of  the  first 
week  in  Lent,  was  the  Feast  of  the  Holy  Lance,  and 
of  the  Nails  of  Our  Lord.  And  the  Spring  of  which 
we  speak  and  the  memory  of  which  was  then  being 
glorified  in  the  Office  prescribed  for  the  diocese,  was 
the  great  divine  Fountain  which  the  lance  of  the 
Roman  centurion,  piercing  the  right  side  of  the  life- 
less body  of  Christ,  had  made  to  flow  as  a  river  of 
life  for  the  regeneration  of  earth  and  the  salvation 
of  the  human  race.  "  Vidi  aquam  egredientem  de 
templo  a  latere  dextro  ;  et  omnes  ad  quos  pervenit 
aqua  ista  salvi  facti  sunt."  "  I  saw  water  flowing 
from  the  temple  on  the  right  side,  and  all  to  whom 
that  water  came  were  saved."  Such  was  the  ex- 
clamation of  the  Prophet,  when  he  contemplated 
the  prodigies  of  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  dim  vista 
of  ages.  "  In  that  day,"  said  the  priests  in  the  Of- 
fice  of  Matins,  "  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  149 

for  the  house  of  David  and  for  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  which  shall  serve  to  purify  the  sinner  and 
all  such  as  are  polluted." 

By  these  coincidences,  wonderful  in  themselves 
and  which  we  urgently  beg  our  readers  to  verify  for 
themselves  in  the  places  pointed  out  in  the  note,  did 
the  Church  of  that  place  reply  with  dazzling  clear- 
ness to  the  innumerable  questions  proposed  around 
the  marvelous  Fountain  which  was  spouting  forth 
its  waters  on  the  right  side  of  the  Grotto.  The 
Spring  of  water  which  had  just  made  its  appear- 
ance at  the  base  of  the  Pyrenees,  derived  its  source, 
by  some  mysterious  process  of  infiltration,  from  that 
vast  stream  of  divine  Grace  which,  under  the  Nails 
of  the  soldiers  and  the  Lance  of  the  centurion,  had 
begun  to  flow  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  from  the 
summit  of  Mount  Golgotha. 

Such  was  the  original  principle  to  which  we  mujt 
retrace  our  steps,  in  order  to  discover  the  hidden 
origin  of  the  miraculous  Spring,  and  it  was  well  that 
the  Offices  celebrated  at  its  starting  point,  at  the 
very  place  where  it  had  pierced  the  earth,  should 
of  themselves  lead  the  mind  towards  these  mystic 
heights.  With  regard  to  the  practical  results  and 
external  effects  which  were  to  be  produced  abroad 
by  this  mysterious  fountain,  their  interpretation  and 
secret  were  naturally  not  to  be  sought  at  its  centre 
and  starting-point,  nor  in  the  confined  circle,  and  at 
an  exceptional  feast  of  a  particular  diocese,  but 
rather,  in  the  universal  Offices  which  the  Catholic, 
Apostolic,  and  Roman  Church  was  at  that  moment 
celebrating  throughout  the  Christian  world.  Now, 
this  very  day,  February  26th,  1858,  being  the  Fri- 
day of  the  first  week  in  Lent,  the  Gospel  appointed 


I  JO  OUR  LADT   OF  LOURDE8. 

for  the  Mass  contained  the  following  words,  which 
need  no  comment :  "  Now,  there  is  at  Jerusalem  a 
pond  called  Probatica  which,  in  Hebrew,  is  named 
Bethsaida — having  five  porches.  In  these  lay  a  great 
multitude  of  sick,  of  blind,  of  lame,  of  withered,  wait- 
ing for  the  movement  of  the  water.  And  an  angel 
of  the  Lord  went  down  at  a  certain  time  into  the 
pond,  and  the  water  was  troubled.  And,  he  that 
went  down  first  into  the  pond,  after  the  motion  of 
the  water,  was  made  whole  of  wliatever  infirmity  he 
lay  under. 

XI. 

ALTHOUGH  doubtless  very  few  persons  in  the 
crowd  instituted  comparisons  of  this  nature,  the  idea 
that  the  waters  of  the  Spring  which  had  gushed  forth 
at  the  Grotto  might  have  the  power  of  healing  the 
sick,  must  have  suggested  itself  to  the  mind  of  every 
one.  From  the  morning  of  the  same  day,  a  rumor 
of  several  marvelous  cures  began  to  spread  in  all 
directions.  Amid  the  contradictory  versions  which 
were  being  circulated,  and  taking  into  consideration 
the  sincerity  of  some,  the  exaggeration  voluntary 
or  involuntary  of  others,  the  flat  denial  of  many,  the 
hesitations  and  uneasiness  of  a  great  number,  the 
emotion  of  all,  it  was  difficult  at  the  first  moment  to 
distinguish  truth  from  falsehood  among  the  miracu- 
lous facts  which  were  asserted  on  all  sides,  told  as 
they  were  in  different  ways,  with  great  blunders  in 
names  and  confusion  of  persons,  to  say  nothing  of 
mixing  up  the  circumstances  of  several  episodes 
differing  from  and  foreign  to  each  other. 

Did  you  ever  in  one  of  your  country  walks,  throw 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  151 

suddenly  a  handful  of  corn  into  an  ants'  nest  ?  The 
terrified  ants  run  from  one  side  to  the  other  in  an 
extraordinary  state  of  agitation.  They  keep  com- 
ing and  going  to  and  fro,  crossing  each  other,  run- 
ning against  each  other,  alternately  stopping  and  re- 
suming their  course,  suddenly  changing  the  point 
towards  which  they  were  running,  picking  u.p  a 
grain  of  corn  and  leaving  it  there,  and  wandering 
in  every  direction  in  a  state  of  feverish  disorder,  a 
prey  to  indescribable  confusion. 

Very  similar  was  the  conduct  of  the  multitude, 
both  of  inhabitants  and  strangers  at  Lourdes,  in  the 
state  of  stupefaction  into  which  they  were  thrown 
by  the  superhuman  wonders  which  reached  them 
from  Heaven.  Such  is  always  the  conduct  of  the 
natural  world,  when  it  is  suddenly  visited  by  some 
manifestation  from  the  supernatural  world. 

By  degrees,  however,  order  is  restored  in  the  ants' 
nest,  and  its  momentary  agitation  ceases. 

There  was,  in  the  town,  a  poor  workman  known 
by  every  one ;  who,  for  many  years,  had  dragged 
out  a  most  miserable  existence.  His  name  was 
Louis  Bourriette.  Some  twenty  years  before,  a 
great  misfortune  had  befallen  him.  As  he  was  work- 
ing in  the  neighborhood  of  Lourdes,  raising  stone 
with  his  brother  Joseph,  who  was  also  a  quarryman, 
a  mine  owing  to  some  mismanagement  had  exploded 
close  to  them.  Joseph  was  killed  on  the  spot,  and 
Louis,  of  whom  we  are  now  speaking,  had  his  face 
ploughed  with  splinters  of  rock,  and  his  right  eye 
half  destroyed.  His  life  had  been  saved  with  the 
greatest  difficulty.  He  suffered  so  terribly  from  the 
results  of  this  accident,  that  he  was  attacked  with  a 
burning  fever,  and  for  some  time  force  was  obliged 


152  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

to  be  employed  to  keep  him  in  his  bed.  Howevr  r, 
he  recovered  by  degrees,  thanks  to  the  skill  and  de- 
voted care  of  those  who  attended  him.  But,  the 
medical  men,  in  spite  of  the  most  delicate  operations 
and  masterly  treatment,  failed  entirely  in  effecting 
the  cure  of  his  right  eye,  which  had  unfortunately 
been  injured  internally.  The  poor  man  had  return- 
ed to  his  occupation  of  quarryman,  but  i.e  was  no 
longer  fit  for  any  thing  but  the  coarsest  style  ot 
work,  as  his  wounded  eye  was  utterly  unservice- 
able, and  he  could  only  see  objects  as  it  were 
through  an  impenetrable  mist.  When  the  poor 
workman  wished  to  undertake  any  work  requiring 
more  than  usual  care,  he  was  obliged  to  apply  for 
assistance  to  others. 

So  far  from  time  having  brought  any  ameliora- 
tion in  his  condition,  his  sight  had  diminished  from 
year  to  year.  This  progressive  deterioration  had 
become  still  more  sensible,  and  at  the  time  we  have 
now  reached  in  our  history,  the  evil  had  made  such 
progress  that  his  right  eye  was  almost  entirely  lost. 
When  Bourriette  closed  his  left  eye,  he  could  not 
distinguish  a  man  from  a  tree.  The  man  and 
the  tree  were  to  him  only  a  black  and  confused 
mass,  scarcely  perceptible  as  in  the  obscurity  of 
night. 

Most  of  the  inhabitants  of  Lourdes  had  given 
Bourriette  employment  at  one  time  or  other.  His 
state  excited  pity,  and  he  was  much  liked  by  the 
brotherhood  of  quarrymen  and  stone  .cutters,  who 
form  a  numerous  class  in  that  part  of  the  country 

This  poor  creature  hearing  about  the  miraculous 
Spring  at  the  Grotto,  called  his  daughter. 

"  Go  and  bring  me  some  of  this  water,"  he  said 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  153 

•  Blessed  Virgin,  if  she  it  is,  has  but  to  will  my  cure 
m  order  to  effect  it." 

Half  an  hour  afterwards,  the  child  Drought  him, 
in  a  basin,  a  small  quantity  of  the  water  which,  as 
we  have  explained  above,  was  still  dirty  and  impreg- 
nated with  earth. 

"  Father,"  observed  the  child,  "  it  is  only  muddy 
water." 

"  That  does  not  matter,"  replied  the  father,  ad 
dressing  himself  to  prayer. 

He  bathed  with  the  water  his  weak  eye,  which 
he  but  a  moment  before  considered  gone  forever. 

Almost  immediately  he  uttered  a  loud  cry,  and 
began  to  tremble  in  the  excess  of  his  emotion.  A 
sudden  miracle  had  been  accomplished  in  regard  to 
his  sight.  The  air  had  already  become  clear  around 
him  and  bathed  in  light.  Nevertheless,  objects  ap- 
peared still  as  if  surrounded  with  a  light  gauze, 
which  hindered  him  from  seeing  them  perfectly. 

The  mist  was  still  before  his  eyes,  but  it  was  no 
longer  dark  as  it  had  been  for  the  last  twenty  years. 
It  was  penetrated  by  the  sun,  and  instead  of  thick 
night  it  was  to  the  eyes  of  the  poor  sick  man,  as  the 
transparent  vapor  of  morning. 

Bourriette  continued  to  pray,  and  at  the  same  time 
washed  his  right  eye  with  the  salutary  water.  By 
degrees  the  light  of  day  flooded  his  sight  and  he 
distinguished  objects  clearly. 

Next  day  or  the  day  after,  he  happened  to  meet 
on  the  public  square  of  Lourdes  with  Doctor  Do- 
zons,  who  had  never  ceased  to  attend  him  since  the 
commencement  of  his  malady.  He  ran  towards  him 
saying,  "  I  am  cured." 

"  Impossible."  exclaimed  the  Doctor.  "  Your  or 
7* 


154  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

gan  of  sight  is  injured  to  such  an  extent  as  to  ren 
der  your  cure  out  of  the  question.  The  treatment 
I  have  prescribed  for  you  is  only  intended  to  soothe 
your  pain,  but  can  never  restore  you  the  use  of 
your  eye.5' 

"  It  is  not  you  who  have  cured  me,"  replied  the 
quarry-man  with  emotion,  "  it  is  the  Blessed  Virgin 
of  the  Grotto." 

The  man  of  human  science  shrugged  his  shoul- 
ders. 

"  That  Bernadette  has  ecstacies  of  an  inexpressi- 
ble nature,  is  certain  ;  for  I  have  devoted  unwearied 
attention  to  establishing  that  fact.  But  it  is  impos- 
sible that  the  water,  which,  how  I  know  not,  has 
gushed  forth  at  the  Grotto,  should  cure  suddenly 
maladies  which  are  in  their  very  nature  incurable." 

On  saying  this  he  took  a  little  tablet  out  of  his 
pocket  and  wrote  a  few  lines  with  a  pencil  on  one 
of  its  pages. 

Then  with  one  hand  he  closed  Bourriette's  left 
eye,  which  was  still  serviceable,  and  presented  to 
his  right  eye,  which  he  knew  to  be  entirely  de- 
prived of  sight,  the  little  sentence  he  had  just  writ- 
ten. 

"  If  you  can  read  this  I  will  believe  you,"  said 
the  eminent  physician  with  an  air  of  triumph, 
strong  as  he  feit  himself  to  be  from  his  extensive 
knowledge  and  profound  medical  experience. 

Many  persons  who  happened  to  be  walking  on 
the  square  at  the  time  had  formed  a  group  around 
them. 

Bourriette  glanced  at  the  paper  with  the  eye,  the 
light  of  which  but  just  now  was  extinct,  and  read 
immediately  and  without  the  slightest  hesitation ; 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  15 j 

"  Bourriette  has  an  incurable  amaurosis  from  which 
he  can  never  recover." 

Had  a  thunderbolt  fallen  at  the  feet  of  the  learn- 
ed physician  it  could  not  have  stupefied  him  more 
than  did  the  voice  of  Bourriette  as  he  read  calmly 
and  without  any  effort  the  single  line  of  small  writ- 
ing which  was  lightly  traced  in  pencil  on  the  page 
of  the  tablet. 

Doctor  Dozens  was  more  than  a  merely  scienti- 
fic man,  he  was  by  nature  conscientious.  He  frank- 
iy  recognized  and  unhesitatingly  proclaimed  the 
agency  of  a  superior  power  in  this  sudden  cure  of 
a  malady  deemed  to  be  incurable. 

"  I  cannot  deny  it,"  he  said  ;  "  it  is  a  miracle,  a 
true  miracle,  with  all  due  deference  to  myself  and 
my  brethren  of  the  faculty.  This  has  quite  upset 
me ;  but  we  can  but  submit  to  the  imperious  voice 
of  a  fact  so  clear  and  so  entirely  beyond  the  range 
of  poor  human  science." 

Doctor  Vergez,  of  Tarbes,  Fellow  and  Professor 
of  the  Faculty  at  Montpellier,  and  resident  Physi- 
cian at  the  Baths  at  Bareges,  being  summoned  to 
pronounce  his  opinion  in  the  case,  could  not  pre- 
vent himself  from  recognizing,  and  that  in  the  most 
undeniable  way — its  supernatural  character. 

As  we  have  already  observed,  Bourriette's  state 
had  been  notorious  for  upwards  of  twenty  years, 
and  the  poor  man  himself  was  universally  known 
in  the  town.  Besides,  this  marvelous  cure  had  not 
caused  the  disappearance  of  the  deep  traces  or 
scars,  which  the  accident  had  left  on  his  face,  so 
that  every  one  had  it  in  his  power  to  verify  the  mira- 
cle which  had  just  been  accomplished.  The  poor 
quarry-man,  almost  mad  with  joy,  recounted  all  tha 


156  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8, 

particularities  of  the  event  to  any  one  who  cared 
to  listen  to  him. 

He  was  not  the  only  one  who  openly  bore  wit- 
ness to  an  unexpected  good  fortune  and  loudly 
proclaimed  his  gratitude.  Events  of  a  similar  na- 
ture had  taken  place  in  other  houses  in  the  town. 
Several  persons  residing  at  Lourdes,  Marie  Daube, 
Bernard  Soubie,  Fabien  Baron,  had  all  at  once 
quitted  their  sick-bed,  to  which  maladies  of  differ- 
ent kinds,  but  all  pronounced  incurable,  had  con- 
fined them,  and  they  proclaimed  publicly  their  cure 
by  the  water  of  the  Grotto.  The  hand  of  Jean 
Crassus,  which  had  been  paralyzed  for  ten  years, 
had  become  straightened  again  and  recovered  all 
the  vigor  of  life  in  the  miraculous  water. 

Thus  the  accuracy  of  facts  succeeded,  among  the 
different  accounts  in  circulation,  to  the  vague  ru- 
mors of  the  first  moment.  The  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  was  raised  to  the  highest  pitch,  an  enthusi- 
asm at  the  same  time  touching  and  sound,  which  in 
the  church  expressed  itself  in  fervent  prayers,  and 
around  the  Grotto  in  the  canticles  of  thanksgiving 
which  burst  from  the  joyful  lips  of  the  pilgrims. 

Towards  evening,  a  great  number  of  workmen 
belonging  to  the  association  of  quarry-men,  of  which 
Bourriette  was  a  member,  repaired  to  the  Rocks  of 
Massabielle  and  laid  out  a  path  for  visitors  in  the 
steep  declivity  near  the  Grotto.  Beiore  the  hollow 
from  which  the  spring  now  bubbled  forth,  they 
placed  a  balustrade  formed  of  wood,  beneath  which 
they  dug  a  small  oval  reservoir,  about  half  a  metre 
in  depth,  and  in  shape  and  length  not  very  unlike 
an  infant's  cradle. 

The    enthusiasm    was    momentarily    increasing 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDES.  157 

Vast  throngs  were  perpetually  passing  to  and  fro 
on  the  road  leading  to  the  miraculous  spring  of 
water.  After  sunset,  when  the  first  shadow  of 
night  began  to  fall  on  the  earth,  you  might  perceive 
that  the  same  thought  had  occurred  to  a  throng  of 
believers,  and  the  Grotto  was  all  at  once  illuminated 
with  a  thousand  lights.  Rich  and  poor,  children, 
men  and  women  had  brought  spontaneously  candles 
and  tapers.  During  the  whole  night,  this  clear  and 
mild  light  might  be  seen  from  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Gave.  Thousands  of  small  torches  placed  here 
and  there  without  any  apparent  order  seemed  to 
give  back  on  earth  the  glittering  lustre  of  the  stars 
with  which  the  firmament  cf  heaven  was  so  thickly 
studded. 

Neither  priests  nor  pontiffs  nor  leading  men  of 
any  kind  were  to  be  found  among  those  masses  of 
people ;  and  yet,  without  any  one  having  given  any 
signal,  the  moment  the  illumination  lighted  up  the 
Grotto  and  the  rocks,  and  shed  a  trembling  re- 
flection on  the  little  reservoir  of  the  miraculous 
Spring,  the  voices  of  all  rose  at  the  same  time  and 
mingled  with  each  other  in  a  chaunt,  which  seemed 
to  proceed  from  a  single  soul.  The  Litany  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  burst  on  the  ear,  interrupting  the 
silence  of  night  to  celebrate  the  memory  of  our 
admirable  Mother,  in  front  of  the  rustic  throne  on 
which  in  her  wisdom  she  had  deigned  to  appea^  in 
order  to  crown  the  hearts  of  all  Christians  with  joy. 
Mater  admirabilis,  Sedes  Sapientia,  Causa  Nostra 
latitice  or  a  pro  nobis. 


158  OUH  LADY  OF  LOURDB8. 

XII. 

[N  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  a  time  usually 
devoted  to  amusement  after  the  cares  of  business, 
the  enemies  of  superstition  assembled  in  great  force 
at  the  club  and  round  the  tables  of  the  cafes,  and 
great  agitation  pervaded  their  Sanhedrim. 

"  There  has  never  been  a  spring  of  water  in  that 
place,"  exclaimed  one  of  the  most  strong-headed 
of  the  party.  "  It  is  but  a  pool  of  water,  formed,  I 
know  not  how,  by  some  accidental  infiltration,  and 
which  must  have  been  discovered  by  the  merest 
chance  by  Bernadette  when  she  stirred  up  the 
ground.  Nothing  is  more  natural." 

"  Evidently,"  they  answered  on  all  sides. 

•'  Nevertheless,"  some  one  ventured  to  observe, 
"  they  pretend  that  the  water  flows." 

"  Not  the  least  in  the  world,"  exclaimed  several 
voices.  "  We  went  there  ourselves :  it  is  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  pool  of  water.  The  common 
people  with  their  usual  exaggeration,  pretend  to 
say  that  the  water  flows.  This  is  not  true ;  we  put 
the  thing  to  the  test  yesterday,  on  the  first  rumor 
reaching  us,  and  it  is  nothing  but  a  muddy  puddle." 

These  assertions  were  looked  upon  as  satisfactory 
and  consistent  by  the  philosophic  and  learned 
world.  It  was  the  official  version  of  the  story,  and 
was  received  as  certain  and  incontestible.  So  cred- 
IKOUS  are  even  the  incredulous  in  whatever  seems 
to  help  their  own  arguments,  so  completely  do  the 
followers  of  Free  Examination  discard  anything 
like  investigation  in  matters  of  this  nature,  and  so 
obstinate  are  they  in  maintaining  the  grounds 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE3. 


'59 


/hey  have  once  taken,  even  when  disproved  by 
facts  themselves,  that,  six  weeks  after  this  period, 
and  in  spite  of  the  crushing  evidence  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  copious  fountain,  which  as  every  one 
might  prove  for  himself,  supplied  more  than  25,000 
gallons  of  water  a  day,  this  absolute  denial  of  any 
spring  of  water,  this  impudent  version  of  the  puddle, 
passed  current  and  was  even  boldly  printed  in  the 
journals  of  the  Free  -  thinkers.  This  would  be 
hardly  credible,  if  we  did  not  give  a  proof  of  :'*  at 
random,  extracted  from  the  official  journal  of  the 
department. 

With  regard  to  the  asserted  cures,  they  were  de- 
nied unprovisionally,  as  had  been  the  case  with  the 
Spring  of  water.  All  of  them,  without  any  excep- 
tion, were  unconditionally  rejected  with  shruggings 
of  shoulders  and  loud  laughter,  as  indeed  had  been 
that  of  Louis  Bourriette. 

"  Bourriette  is  not  cured,"  said  one. 

"  He  was  never  sick,"  replied  another. 

"  He  imagines  he  is  cured  ;  he  believes  he  sees," 
insinuated  a  young  man  of  the  school  of  M.  Renan. 

"  The  effect  of  the  imagination  on  the  nerves  is 
sometimes  surprising,"  rejoined  a  physiologist. 

"  There  is  no  such  person  as  Bourriette  in  exis- 
tence," exclaimed  sturdily  a  new  arrival,  striking 
at  once  at  the  root  of  the  question. 

The  attitude  assumed  by  the  philosophica'  heads 
of  the  place  was  summed  up  in  these  four  or  five 
formularies,  as  far  as  these  extraordinary  cures,  so 
much  bruited  among  the  common  people,  were 
concerned. 

It  was  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  them  that  such 
grave  and  highly  educated  men  as  M.  Dufo,  who 


l6o  OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDE8. 

was  then  president-elect  of  the  Order  of  Barristers, 
as  Doctor  Dozon,  as  M.  Estrade,  as  the  Command- 
ant of  the  Garrison,  as  the  retired  Intendant  Mili- 
t&ire,  M.  de  Laffite,  should  have  displayed  such 
inconceivable  weakness  as  to  allow  themselves  to 
oe  deluded  by  all  that  was  taking  place. 

In  the  course  of  this  day  so  pregnant  with  events, 
Bernadette  had  been  summoned  to  the  chamber  of 
the  Tribunal,  either  before  or  after  the  sitting  of  the 
couit,  and  the  dialectics  brought  into  play  by  the 
Procureur  Imperial,  the  Substitut  and  the  Judges  had 
not  been  more  successful  in  producing  any  varia- 
tion or  contradiction  in  her  story  than  the  genius 
of  M.  Jacomet,  in  spite  of  his  long  experience  in 
the  Police. 

The  Procureur  Imperial,  followed  by  his  Substitut, 
had  pronounced  his  own  opinion  in  the  matter  some 
days  before  and  nothing  could  shake  the  firmness 
of  his  mind.  He  deplored  this  invasion  of  fanati- 
cism and  was  determined  to  discharge  his  duty 
energetically.  Owing  to  I  know  not  what  circum- 
stances, and  as  is  seldom  the  case  in  such  immense 
assemblages,  no  disorder  arose,  and  the  laudable 
zeal  of  the  Procureur  Imperial  was  doomed  to  a  state 
of  complete  inaction  and  to  an  attitude  of  expecta- 
tion. In  the  midst  of  this  vast  movement  of  men 
and  ideas  which  stirred  up  the  whole  country,  it 
would  seem  if  an  invisible  hand  protected  those  in- 
numerable crowds  and  hindered  them  from  giving, 
even  innocently,  the  slightest  pretext  for  the  forcible 
interference  of  the  law-officers,  police  or  civil  ad- 
ministration. Whether  they  liked  it  or  not,  these 
formidable  personages  had  at  least  for  the  time 
their  hands  tied  and  they  were  not  to  be  untied 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  161 

ULtil  the  moment  when  the  mysterious  Apparition 
of  the  Grotto  had  completed  her  work.  These 
multitudes  then  could  come  with  perfect  security ; 
these  multitudes  so  vast  to  the  bodily  eye  which 
saw  them  meeting  from  every  side  of  the  horizon  • 
so  insignificant  to  the  spiritual  eye  after  comparing 
them  with  the  millions  of  men  destined  to  repair  to 
the  same  spot  in  the  future  as  a  place  of  pilgrimage. 
An  invisible  segis  seemed  to  defend  from  all  danger 
those  first  witnesses  whom  the  Blessed  Virgin  had 
summoned  :  "  Nolite  timer e,  pusillus  grex" 

The  enemies  of  Superstition  applied  most  ur- 
gently to  the  Mayor  of  Lourdes  in  order  to  induce 
him  to  issue  an  order  prohibiting  all  access  to  the 
Rocks  of  Massabielle,  which  formed  part  of  the 
public  lands  belonging  to  the  commune.  Such  an 
order,  they  thought,  would  inevitably  be  infringed 
in  the  then  excited  state  of  popular  feeling  and 
would  give  rise  to  innumerable  proceedings.  It 
would  be  resisted  and  resistance  would  be  followed 
by  arrests,  and  if  the  judicial  authority,  including 
that  of  the  police  and  the  administration,  could 
once  take  the  matter  in  hand,  it  would  easily  carry 
everything  before  it,  as  it  would  be  supported  by 
all  the  powers  of  the  State. 

M.  Lacade,  Mayor  of  Lourdes,  was  a  most  up- 
right and  excellent  man  and  had  deservedly  ac- 
quired the  general  respect  of  the  public.  Every 
one  in  the  town  of  Lourdes  did  justice  to  his  rare 
personal  qualities,  and  his  enemies  —  or  such  as 
were  jealous  of  him  —  never  reproached  him  with 
anything  worse  than  a  certain  timidity  which  pre- 
vented him  from  taking  a  decided  course  between 
extreme  parties,  and  a  somewhat  too  great  attach 


162  OluR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ment  to  his  functions  as  Mayor,  though,  as  even 
one  allowed,  he  discharged  them  in  a  decidedly 
superior  manner. 

He  refused  to  issue  the  order  which  was  solicited 
from  him. 

"  I  do  not  know  where  the  truth  lies  in  the  midst 
jf  so  much  clamor,  he  replied,  "  and  it  is  not  foi 
me  to  pronounce  either  for  or  against.  As  long  as 
there  is  no  disorder  I  let  things  take  their  course. 
[t  is  for  the  Bishop  to  decide  the  question,  as  it 
regards  religion;  it  is  for  the  Prefet  to  decide 
measures  which  are  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Ad- 
ministration. For  myself,  I  wish  to  keep  clear  of 
the  whole  business,  and  I  shall  only  act  in  my  ca- 
pacity of  Mayor  on  the  express  order  of  the  Prefet" 

Such,  if  not  the  very  language,  was  the  import 
of  his  reply  to  the  worrying  applications  urged  upon 
him  by  the  Philosophers  of  Lourdes,  who,  as  re- 
garded Christian  belief,  resembled  in  that  respect 
the  philosophers  of  all  times  and  places.  The  pre- 
tended liberty  of  Thought  rarely  tolerates  the 
liberty  of  Belief. 

Since  the  gushing  forth  of  the  Spring  the  Appa- 
rition had  not  re-iterated  her  command  to  Berna- 
dette  to  go  to  the  Priests  and  demand  from  them  the 
erection  of  a  chapel.  On  the  next  day,  as  we  have 
already  related,  the  Vision  had  not  manifested  her- 
self, so  that,  since  that  moment,  Bernadette  had  not 
made  her  appearance  at  the  presbytery.  The  Clergy, 
notwithstanding  the  rising  tide  of  popular  faith 
and  the  increasing  rumors  of  miracles  which  were 
spread  by  the  multitudes,  continued  to  remain 
strangers  to  all  the  manifestations  of  enthusiasm 
which  took  place  around  the  Grotto. 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOUKDE3.  163 

"Let  us  wait  patiently,"  they  said.  "  In  human 
affairs  it  is  enough  to  be  prudent  once.  In  things 
pertaining  to  God  our  prudence  should  be  seventy- 
fold." 

Not  a  single  priest  therefore  appeared  in  the 
ceaseless  procession  which  was  repairing  to  the 
miraculous  Spring  of  water.  Owing  therefore  to 
the  Clergy  having  made  a  point  of  keeping  aloof, 
and  to  the  municipal  authorities  refusing  to  act  and 
oppose  their  veto,  the  popular  movement  had  free 
course  and  was  always  on  the  increase,  like  the 
rivers  of  their  country  at  the  period  of  the  melting 
of  the  snow.  It  overflowed  on  all  sides,  perpetually 
advancing  and  covering  the  surrounding  country 
with  its  innumerable  waves.  The  advocates  of  re- 
pression began  to  feel  how  powerless  they  were  to 
resist  a  current  of  such  formidable  strength  and  to 
see  clearly  that  all  opposition  would  be  swept  away 
like  a  dyke  of  straw  by  this  sudden  and  mighty  ir- 
ruption. They  were  forced  to  resign  themselves  to 
allow  free  passage  to  these  multitudes  which  had 
been  invisibly  upheaved  and  put  in  motion  by  the 
breath  of  God. 

At  the  Grotto  the  greatest  order  was  maintained, 
notwithstanding  so  vast  a  concourse  of  people. 
They  continued  drawing  water  from  the  Fountain, 
singing  canticles  and  devoting  themselves  to  prayer. 

Tne  soldiers  of  the  Garrison,  agitated  in  common 
with  all  the  people  of  the  country,  had  requested 
permission  from  the  Commandant  of  the  fort  to  re- 
pair, themselves,  to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  With 
the  instinct  of  discipline  developed  in  their  case  by 
military  system,  they  took  measures  of  their  own 
accord  to  obviate  obstructions,  to  leave  certain 


164  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

passages  free  and  to  prevent  the  crowd  from  ap 
preaching  too  near  to  the  dangerous  banks  of  th* 
Gave,  stationing  themselves  for  this  purpose  on 
both  sides  of  the  river  and  assuming  spontaneously 
a  certain  amount  of  authority,  which  no  one,  as  was 
reasonable,  dreamt  of  disputing. 

Some  days  passed  by  in  this  manner,  during 
which  the  Apparition  manifested  herself  without 
any  new  peculiarity  except  that  the  Spring  of  water 
was  always  increasing  in  volume  and  the  miraculous 
cures  effected  by  it  were  multiplied  more  and  more. 
There  was  a  moment  of  profound  astonishment  in 
the  camp  of  the  Free-thinkers.  The  facts  were  be- 
coming so  numerous,  so  amply  proved  and  so  pa- 
tent that  almost  every  moment  the  ranks  of  the 
incredulous  suffered  from  desertion.  The  best  and 
the  most  upright  among  them  suffered  themselves 
to  be  gained  by  the  evidence  adduced.  There  re- 
mained, however,  an  indestructible  number  of 
minds  arrogating  to  themselves  superior  strength, 
but  whose  strength  in  point  of  fact  consisted  in 
rejecting  all  proofs  and  refusing  to  give  way  to 
truth.  This  would  appear  impossible  did  not  every 
one  know  that  a  great  part  of  the  Jewish  people 
resisted  the  miracles  even  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Apostles,  and  that  four  centuries  of  miracles  \ver« 
necessary  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  pagan  world. 


FOURTH  BOOK. 
1. 

ON  the  second  of  March,  Bernadette  repaired 
anew  to  the  residence  of  the  Cure  of  Lourdes, 
and  spoke  to  him  a  second  time  in  the  name  of  the 
Apparition. 

"  She  wishes  a  chapel  to  be  erected,  and  proces- 
sions to  the  Grotto  to  be  organized,"  said  the  child. 

Events  had  crowded,  the  Spring  had  gushed  forth, 
cures  had  been  effected  and  miracles  had  supervened 
to  bear  witness,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  Bernadette's 
veracity.  The  priest  had  no  further  proofs  to  de- 
mand, and  he  demanded  none.  His  conviction  was 
settled,  and  thenceforth  no  doubt  could  touch  his 
heart. 

The  invisible  "  Lady  "  of  the  Grotto  had  not  de- 
clared her  name.  But,  the  man  of  God  had  not 
failed  to  recognize  Her  in  Her  maternal  kindness 
»nd,  perhaps,  he  had  already  added  to  his  prayers 
— "  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes,  pray  for  us." 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  secret  enthusiast! 
with  which  his  ardent  heart  had  filled  on  seeing  the 
great  things  which  had  been  done,  he  had  with  rare 
prudence  succeeded  in  withholding  the  premature 
expression  of  the  deep  and  sweet  sentiments  which 


1 66  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUltDES. 

agitated  him,  at  the  thought  that  the  Queen  of 
Heaven  had  descended  amid  the  humble  flock  of 
his  parishioners ;  and,  he  had  not  cancelled  the  for- 
rnal  prohibition  of  going  to  the  Grotto  which  he 
had  imposed  on  his  Clergy. 

"  I  believe  you,"  said  he  to  Bernadette,  when  she 
presented  herself  to  him  anew.  "  But,  what  you 
demand  of  me  in  the  name  of  the  Apparition,  does 
not  depend  on  myself;  it  depends  on  the  Bishop, 
whom  I  have  already  apprised  of  all  that  is  passing 
(  am  about  to  go  to  him  and  acquaint  him  with  this 
Vesh  application.  He  alone  can  act  in  this  affair." 

II. 

MONSEIGNEUR  Bertrand-Sdvere  Laurence,  Bishop 
of  Tarbes  was  the  man  of  the  Diocese,  individually 
as  well  as  officially.  He  had  been  born  in  it,  reared 
in  it,  grown  in  it  to  man's  estate.  Rising  rapidly, 
owing  to  his  merit,  to  the  highest  ecclesiastical  func- 
tions, he  had  been,  successively,  Superior  of  the 
Petit  Seminaire  of  Saint  Pe,  which  he  had  founded, 
Superior  of  the  Great  Seminary,  and  Vicar-Gen- 
eral. 

Almost  all  the  priests  of  the  diocese  n*d  been  his 
pupils.  He  had  been  their  Master  before  becoming 
their  Bishop ;  and,  under  one  or  other  of  these  ti- 
tles, he  presided  over  them  nearlj*  forty  years. 

The  profound  harmony  and  entire  unity  of  mind 
and  soul  which,  owing  to  the  above  circumstances, 
reigned  between  the  former  Superior  of  the  Semin- 
aries and  the  Clergy  he  had  trained  for  the  sacerdo- 
tal life,  had  been  one  of  the  causes  of  his  promotion 
to  the  Episcopacy.  When,  some  twelve  vears  be* 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOUBDES.  16? 

fore,  the  See  of  Tarbes  had  become  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Monseigneur  Double,  every  one  pointed 
out  the  Abbd  Laurence  as  eminently  qualified  to 
succeed  him.  A  great  number  filled  with  the  same 
desire  and  animated  with  the  same  hope,  signed  a 
petition  requesting  the  nomination  of  the  Abb^ 
Laurence  to  the  See  of  Tarbes.  Thus,  the  Bishop 
had  been  selected  and  raised  to  his  eminent  rank  by 
the  suffrages  of  the  faithful,  as  had  frequently  hap- 
pened in  the  primitive  Church.  It  may  easily  be 
inferred  from  what  we  have  said,  that  Monseigneur 
Laurence  and  his  Clergy  formed  one  large  Christian 
family,  as  should  be  the  case  in  all  times  and  places. 

All  the  warmth  of  his  nature  was  concentered  in 
his  excellent  and  paternal  heart,  which  made  itself 
all  things  to  all  men.  By  a  curious  contrast,  which 
could  hardly  be  termed  a  contradiction,  his  head 
was  cool,  and  subjected  every  thing  to  the  investi- 
gation of  impassible  reason.  The  Prelate's  intellect, 
although  naturally  adapted  to  every  branch  of  men- 
tal exercise,  was  essentially  practical  in  its  tendency 
Never  was  any  one  less  accessible  to  the  illusions  of 
the  imagination,  or  the  allurements  of  unguarded 
enthusiasm.  He  distrusted  ardent  and  exaggerated 
natures.  In  order  to  convince  him,  arguments 
addressed  to  the  passions  were  unavailing.  If  his 
heart  was  under  the  influence  of  his  feelings,  his  in- 
tellect was  governed  by  reason  alone. 

Before  proceeding  to  act,  the  Bishop  was  wont 
to  weigh  most  carefully  not  only  his  acts  in  them- 
selves, but,  also,  all  their  consequences.  From  this 
there  resulted  in  him  sometimes  a  certain  slowness 
in  pronouncing  judgment  in  affairs  of  importance — • 
it  slowness  which,  doubtless,  did  not  originate  in  in* 


168  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

decision  of  character,  but  rather  in  discretion  ot 
mind,  which  desired  to  act  with  deliberation,  and 
only  come  to  a  determination  after  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  the  subject  in  question.  Knowing, 
besides,  that  Truth  is  eternal  in  its  nature,  and  that 
the  hour  of  its  triumph  must  inevitably  arrive,  he  was 
endowed  with  that  virtue,  the  rarest  in  the  world 
— patience.  Monseigneur  Laurence  could  wait. 

Gifted  with  uncommon  powers  of  observation, 
Monseigneur  Laurence  knew  mankind  thoroughly, 
and  possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  difficult  art  of 
managing  and  guiding  them.  Unless  the  interests 
of  religion  were  at  stake  and  there  was  some  par- 
ticular reason  for  publicity,  he  carefully  avoided 
any  clashing  of  opinion,  disagreements  and  disputes, 
knowing  as  he  well  did,  that  to  excite  feelings  of 
hostility  against  the  Bishop,  was,  owing  to  the  na- 
tural bent  of  the  human  heart,  to  make  enemies  to 
the  Episcopacy  and  religion.  His  prudence  was 
extreme,  and,  having  to  steer  the  bark  of  Peter 
through  the  whole  extent  of  his  Diocese,  he  was 
thoroughly  imbued  with  a  sense  of  his  own  respon- 
sibility. Ever  on  the  watch  to  observe  the  state  of 
the  sea  and  the  direction  of  the  wind,  he  not  seldom 
gazed  down  into  the  depths  of  the  water  and  care- 
fully looked  out  for  the  first  appearance  of  breakers. 

Remarkable  for  his  skill  in  the  administration  of 
affairs,  orderly  in  his  habits,  a  strict  disciplinarian, 
and  combining  in  his  person  apostolic  simplicity 
with  diplomatic  prudence,  he  had  been  always,  from 
the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe  to  the  re-establishment 
of  the  Empire,  very  highly  appreciated  by  the  dif- 
ferent governments  which  succeeded  each  other. 
When  Monseigneur  Laurence  demanded  any  thing. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  169 

it  was  known  beforehand  in  the  highest  quarters, 
that  what  he  demanded  was  certainly  just  and  very 
probably  necessary,  and  he  never  met  with  a  refu- 
sal. 

Thus,  for  a  long  time  past,  in  this  Pyrenean  dio- 
cese, the  spiritual  and  temporal  authority  had  been 
on  the  best  possible  terms  with  each  other,  when 
those  miraculous  events  occurred  at  Lourdes,  of 
which  we  have  treated  in  the  present  work 

III. 

THE  Abb6  Peyramale  explained  to  the  Bishop 
the  surprising  events  of  which  the  Grotto  of  Mas- 
sabielle  and  the  town  of  Lourdes  had  been  the  scene 
for  nearly  the  last  three  weeks.  He  recounted  the 
ecstacies  and  visions  of  Bernadette,  the  words  ut- 
tered by  the  Apparition,  the  gushing  forth  of  the 
Spring,  the  sudden  cures  effected,  and  the  agitation 
which  pervaded  the  whole  community. 

His  narration,  which  we  have  no  doubt  was  high- 
ly animated  and  picturesque,  though  we  regret  that 
we  cannot  furnish  our  readers  with  its  exact  words, 
must  have  struck  the  mind  of  the  good  Bishop,  but 
it  could  not  lead  hastily  to  his  immediate  convic- 
tion. Habituated  as  he  was  to  see  Truth  descend 
hierarchically  from  the  heights  of  the  Vatican,  Mon- 
siegneur  Laurence  felt  little  disposed  to  receive  and 
accept  without  mature  investigation  a  message  from 
heaven,  delivered  suddenly,  and  in  defiance  of  ordi- 
nary rules  by  a  little  illiterate  peasant-girl. 

He  was,  however,  too  well  versed  in  all  matters 
touching  the  History  of  the  Church,  to  deny  the 
absolute  possibility  of  a  fact  which,  after  all,  has  had 
8 


I/O  OUR  LADJ    OF  LOURDES. 

Its  counterparts  in  the  secular  annals  of  Catholicism 
but,  at  the  same  time,  the  practical  tendency  of  his 
mind  rendered  conviction  in  his  case  somewhat  difc 
ficult.  The  Bishops  are  the  successors  of  the  Apos- 
tles. Monseigneur  Laurence  was  an  apostle  and  a 
holy  one:  but,  like  St.  Thomas,  he  wished  to  see 
before  he  believed ;  and,  in  some  respects,  this  was 
a  fortunate  circumstance  ;  for,  when  the  Bishop  be- 
lieved, every  one  knew  that  he  might  in  all  safety 
believe  with  him,  and  that  the  clearest  proofs  had 
been  brought  forward. 

The  Cure  of  Lourdes  had  not  himself  actually 
witnessed  the  majority  of  the  facts  he  adduced ; 
and,  in  consequence  of  the  reserve  he  had  imposed 
on  the  Clergy,  he  could  only  appeal  before  the 
Bishop,  to  the  declarations  of  third  persons,  and 
those  laymen,  of  whom  some,  being  either  sceptical 
or  indifferent  in  matters  of  religion,  did  not  even 
follow  the  observances  of  the  Church. 

Besides,  in  the  midst  of  so  many  accounts  given 
to  him,  of  the  multiplicity  and  confusion  of  so  many 
incidents,  of  the  unavoidable  hiatuses  in  his  infor- 
mation, and  of  the  numberless  reports  which  were 
current,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  satisfy  himself 
on  the  subject,  and  to  display  the  logical  and  provi- 
dential march  of  events  in  the  methodical  manner 
which  is  so  easy  at  the  present  time.  It  is  with  facts 
of  a  moral  order,  as  it  is  with  objects  of  a  physical 
order ;  we  must  be  at  some  distance  from  them,  in 
order  to  see  them  in  their  proper  point  of  view. 
The  Abbd  Peyramale  could  certainly  analyze  many 
details  of  what  was  being  accomplished  under  his 
eyes ;  but,  just  at  that  time,  it  was  not  in  the  Bishop's 
or  his  power  to  see  it  as  a  whole,  and  to  remark  its 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOTJRDES.  171 

admirable  coherency, — they  were  too  near  the  stage 
on  which  this  scene  was  enacted. 

Monseigneur  Laurence  did  not  pronounce  any 
opinion.  Wiser  in  this  repect  than  St.  Thomas,  he 
refrained  from  denying  the  truth  of  the  fact ;  for,  he 
knew  that  things  of  that  nature,  though  very  rare, 
are  yet  possible.  He  confined  himself  to  not  believ- 
ing, or,  in  other  words,  to  saying  neither  yes  nor  no, 
and  remaining  in  that  methodical  state  of  doubt 
which  is  affirmed  by  Descartes  to  be  the  best  con- 
dition, in  order  to  proceed  to  the  search  after  truth. 
As  Bishop,  he  required  documents  and  attestations 
of  unimpeachable  authenticity,  and  the  second-hand 
proofs  which  he  received  from  the  Cur£  of  Lourdes 
did  not  appear  to  him  sufficient.  Might  there  not 
be  some  illusion  in  the  child's  mind  ?  some  exagger 
itions  in  the  accounts  given  by  the  crowd  ?  Hao 
not  pious  souls  suffered  themselves  sometimes  to  be 
deceived  by  false  miracles,  whether  proceeding  from 
imposture,  hallucination,  or  the  artifices  of  the  Evil 
one  ?  All  these  questions  suggested  themselves  to 
his  mind  and  made  it  his  dut"  to  proceed  with  the 
greatest  prudence. 

The  idea  of  instituting  an  official  inquiry  pre- 
sented itself  naturally  to  his  mind,  and  public 
opinion,  desirous  of  having  the  difficulty  solved, 
urged  the  episcopal  authority  to  take  the  affair 
officially  in  hand  and  pronounce  its  judgment  on 
the  matter.  The  Bishop,  with  admirable  foresight, 
compiehended  that  the  very  agitation  of  the  popu- 
lation would  injure  the  maturity  and  safety  of  the 
inquiry.  He  wisely  pursued  the  difficult  course  of 
resisting  the  pressure  universally  brought  to  bear 
"non  him.  He  ros^lved,  therefore,  to  allow  things 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

to  take  their  own  course,  to  let  new  events  be. 
come  known,  and  to  wait  for  the  production  of 
some  striking  testimony  in  the  interests  of  truth, 
whatever  might  be  its  nature. 

"  It  is  not  yet  time  for  the  episcopal  authority  to 
busy  itself  with  this  affair.  To  establish  the  judg- 
ment which  is  expected  from  us,  we  must  proceed 
extremely  slow,  distrust  the  impulse  of  the  mo- 
ment, give  time  for  reflection,  and  request  to  be 
enlightened,  in  order  to  a  careful  investigation  of 
facts." 

Such  was  the  language  held  by  the  Bishop. 

He  did  not,  therefore,  cancel  the  order  which 
prohibited  the  Clergy  from  repairing  to  the  Grotto. 
At  the  same  time,  however,  in  concert  with  the 
Cur£  of  Lourdes,  he  took  all  proper  measures  to 
be  informed,  day  by  day,  of  whatever  took  place 
at  the  Grotto,  and  of  all  the  cures,  true  or  false, 
which  were  effected,  employing  for  that  purpose 
witnesses  of  unshaken  integrity  and  acknowledged 
capacity. 

It  naturally  resulted,  from  the  reserved  attitude 
adopted  by  the  Bishop,  that  the  investigation  would 
be  made,  so  to  say,  of  its  own  accord,  publicly, 
and,  after  having  heard  the  adverse  parties,  not 
by  a  commission  composed  of  certain  persons,  but 
by  the  intelligence  of  all,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  necessities  of  the  case.  Should  there  be  any 
error  or  trickery  in  the  affair,  the  unbelieving  class, 
which  resented  so  deeply  the  popular  superstition, 
would  not  be  slow  to  detect  and  proclaim  them, 
with  the  proofs  in  their  hands.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  these  events  had  a  divine  character,  they 
would  triumph  alone  over  all  obstacles,  and  display 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  173 

their  intrinsic  vitality,  while  dispensing  with  any 
external  support. 

Their  authority,  in  this  case,  must  prove  incoiv. 
testable  in  the  eyes  of  all  right-thinking  persons. 

The  Bishop,  therefore,  decided  to  remain  in  this 
attitude  of  observation,  whatever  might  happen 
and  as  long  as  possible — at  least  for  some  months— 
and  to  postpone  any  direct  interference  until  forced 
to  it  ty  the  events  themselves. 

IV. 

WHILE,  at  the  Bishop's  palace,  matters  were 
treated  with  such  extreme  circumspection,  the 
civil  authorities  were  in  the  greatest  state  of  per- 
plexity with  regard  to  what  was  passing  at  Lourdes. 
The  prefecture  of  Tarbes  was  occupied  by  M. 
Massy,  and  the  Ministry  of  Public  Worship  by  M. 
Rouland. 

The  Baron  Ma  .,  Prefect  of  the  Hautes- Pyr- 
enees, was  a  good  but  independent  Catholic,  and 
decidedly  opposed  to  anything  like  Superstition. 
He  professed,  as  a  good  Christian,  to  believe  the 
miracles  recounted  in  the  Gospels  and  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  ;  but  outside  these  prodigies,  which 
are,  in  some  measure,  official,  he  did  not  admit  the 
Supernatural. 

Miracles  having  been  indispensable  in  order  to 
found  the  Church  and  give  her  authority,  he  ac- 
cepted them  as  being  a  necessity  of  that  period  of 
formation.  But,  in  his  opinion,  God  ought  to  stop 
there  and  be  satisfied  with  this  minimum  of  the 
Supernatural  so  fairly  conceded.  In  the  eyes  of 
this  official  personage  the  part  of  God  was  fixed 


174  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

and  regulated  by  the  orthodox  Credo  and  the  con- 
cordats  of  the  Church.  It  was  established,  formed 
into  a  code,  and  drawn  up  into  articles  of  faith  and 
articles  of  law.  These  mysteries  were  respected  by 
the  faithful,  and  the  various  Governments  had  put 
up,  as  well  as  they  could,  with  these  distant  facts 
which  affected  them  but  little.  God  should  not, 
therefore,  transgress  those  limits  and  proceed  to 
trouble  the  constitutional  course  of  things  by  in- 
opportune interference  or  by  personal  acts  of  power. 
Let  him  allow  the  constituted  authorities  to  act — 
i>er  me  reges  regnant — and  let  Him  remain  hence- 
forth in  the  invisible  depths  of  the  Infinite.  The 
Prefect,  having  bowed  his  lofty  intellect  to  faith  in 
the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  was  not  un- 
like those  excellent  persons  who,  in  the  apportion- 
ment of  their  income,  assign  to  charity  a  fixed  sum, 
beyond  which  they  make  it  a  rule  never  to  give 
anything,  and  when  the  Supernatural  presented  it- 
self, he  was  tempted  to  say  to  it,  "  Walk  on,  my 
friend,  you  have  already  received  your  dole." 

M.  Massy  was,  as  we  see,  very  orthodox  ;  but, 
on  theoretical  grounds,  he  dreaded  the  invasion  of 
the  Supernatural,  while,  practically,  he  feared 
the  encroachments  of  the  Clergy.  "  Nothing  too 
much,"  was  his  motto.  This  was  all  very  well,  but 
those  who  are  always  repeating  this  generally  end 
by  making  the  measure  too  narrow  and  not  giving 
enough.  The  summumjus,  the  strict  right,  approxi- 
mates closely  to  the  summa  injuria,  or  last  degree  of 
injustice.  The  Latins,  with  their  habitual  good 
sense,  pretended  that  it  was  precisely  the  same 
thing. 

Wedded  to  his  ideas  of  government,  and  esseo- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES  175 

tially  official,  he  was  for  whatever  was  established, 
solely  owing  to  the  fact  of  its  having  been  estab- 
lished. Whatever  was,  ought  to  be.  A  state  ot 
things  existing  was  a  principle  justificatus  in  semet- 
ipsum.  Whatever  was  legal  was  legitimate.  In 
vain  was  he  told,  Dura  lex.  He  answered,  Sed  lex. 
He  went  even  further.  Like  many  men  who  have 
grown  old  in  the  affairs  of  government,  he  was 
tempted  to  believe  that  the  slightest  deviation  from 
ordinary  routine  was  an  attempt  against  eternal 
right.  He  confounded  arrangement  with  order, 
and  mistook  regulation  for  law. 

M.  Massy,  was,  however,  remarkably  intelligent, 
and  administered  the  affairs  of  the  department  con- 
fided  to  him  with  talent.  He  took  in,  at  a  glance, 
the  real  state  of  things,  and  his  judgment  was 
prompt.  Unfortunately,  men  have  often,  in  the 
world,  faults  closely  allied  to  their  good  qualities, 
and  this  valuable  faculty  of  seeing  and  deciding,  as 
it  were,  by  intuition,  sometimes  led  him  into  error. 
Depending,  perhaps,  somewhat  too  much  on  his 
first  cursory  view  of  a  question,  it  happened  some- 
times that  he  acted  prematurely.  When  this  was 
the  case,  he  was  guilty  of  the  serious  fault  of  being 
unable  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  been  deceived  ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  precipitation  of  some  of 
his  decisions,  he  was  never  known  to  swerve  from 
the  course  he  had  once  resolved  to  take,  whether 
men,  ideas,  or  facts  were  at  stake. 

In  such  circumstances,  which,  however,  rarely 
occurred,  he  usually  displayed  obstinacy  and  a  de- 
termination to  march  on  against  the  obstacles 
which,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  were  oppos- 
ed to  his  progress.  It  is  assuredly  a  great  quality 


176  OUR  LADY  OF  LOJJRDES. 

to  persevere  without  flinching  in  any  fixed  line  of 
conduct,  but  only  on  the  supposition  that  we  never 
fall  into  error  and  are  always  proceeding  in  th« 
right  path.  When  we  are  unfortunate  enough  to 
get  heedlessly  entangled  in  a  blind  alley,  this  qual- 
ity degenerates  into  a  great  vice,  and  we  end  by 
breaking  our  head  against  the  wall. 

Up  to  that  time  the  Prefect  and  the  Bishop  had 
lived  on  a  perfectly  good  understanding.  M.  Massy 
was  Catholic,  not  only  in  what  he  believed,  but  in 
practice  also.  Everybody  did  justice  to  his  exem- 
plary morality  and  to  his  domestic  virtues,  and  he 
met  with  just  appreciation  from  the  Bishop.  The 
Prefect,  on  his  part,  could  not  but  admire  and  love 
the  eminent  qualities  of  the  Bishop.  The  prudence 
of  the  latter,  united  to  his  knowledge  of  mankind, 
had  always  avoided  any  occasions  of  collision  be- 
tween the  spiritual  and  temporal  authorities,  so 
that  not  only  peace  but  the  most  cordial  harmony 
existed  between  the  head  of  the  Diocese  and  the 
head  of  the  Department. 

V. 

M.  MASSY,  who  was  informed,  from  time  to  time, 
of  the  events  at  Lourdes  by  Monsieur  Jacomet,  in 
whom  he  placed  the  blindest  confidence,  by  no  means 
imitated  the  Bishop's  wise  reserve.  H  e  gave  way  tc 
his  first  impression ;  and  having  no  faith  in  the  pos- 
sibility of  Apparitions  and  Miracles  of  the  kind, 
and  flattering  himself  that  he  might  put  a  stop  to 
the  popular  torrent  whenever  he  chose,  he  openly 
declared  his  own  opinions  on  the  subject,  and  re- 
vived to  smother  in  its  cradle  this  new  supersti- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  177 

tion,  which,  from  its  first  birth,  seemed  to  threaten 
BO  rapid  a  growth. 

"  If  I  had  been  Prefect  of  the  Isere  at  the  time  ol 
the  pretended  Apparitions  of  La  Salette,"  he  often 
used  to  say,  "  I  should  soon  have  set  it  to  rights, 
and  that  legend  would  have  been  heard  of  no  more, 
as  will  soon  be  the  case  with  the  one  at  Lourdes. 
All  this  phantasmagoria  will  come  to  nothing." 

Instead  of  remaining  quiet  until  the  ecclesiastical 
authority,  the  only  competent  one  in  the  case,  should 
consider  the  proper  time  to  have  arrived  for  tak- 
ing in  hand  the  investigation  of  so  extraordinary 
an  affair,  the  Prefect  anticipated  the  decision  of  the 
question  in  accordance  with  his  own  anti-supernatu- 
ral prejudices.  The  Bishop,  naturally  patient,  was 
taking  his  time  to  untie  the  Gordian  knot,  while  M 
Massy,  giving  way  to  the  impetuosity  of  his  tern 
per,  preferred  to  cut  it  once  for  all.  These  trial* 
of  strength  were  all  very  well  for  the  sword  of 
Alexander,  but  the  dress-sword  of  a  Prefect  runs 
considerable  risk  of  being  found  unequal  to  the 
task.  On  an  occasion  of  this  kind,  that  of  M.  Massy 
was  destined  to  be  blunted  preparatory  to  being 
shivered. 

Although  his  mind  therefore  was  quite  made  up 
on  the  subject,  he  could  not  but  perceive  that  the 
question  was  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  episcopal  au- 
thority, and  not  in  any  way  in  that  of  the  civil 
power,  and  he  did  not  wish  in  any  manner  to  wound 
the  feelings  of  the  venerated  Prelate  who  conducted 
the  affairs  of  the  diocese,  as  every  body  acknowl- 
edged, with  so  much  wisdom.  White  he  permit- 
ted his  hostile  sentiments  against  the  "  miracles"  of 
the  Grotto  to  become  generally  known,  and  had 
8* 


i;8  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

them  investigated  by  his  agents,  he  confined  him- 
self publicly  to  taking  certain  measures,  for  which 
the  immense  concourse  of  people  attracted  by  the 
fame  of  these  events  to  Lourdes,  might  at  a  shift 
serve  for  a  pretext. 

He  began,  with  what  exact  expectation  we  know 
not,  by  having  the  Grotto  secretly  watched,  day 
and  night,  as  if  some  human  trickery  could  have 
been  in  complicity  with  this  strange  gushing-forth 
of  the  miraculous  Spring  and  its  progressive  aug- 
mentation. 

On  the  third  of  March,  in  obedience  to  orders 
arrived  from  the  Prefecture,  the  Mayor  of  Lourdes, 
M.  Lacade,  wrote  to  the  Commandant  of  the  For- 
tress to  place  at  his  disposal  the  troops  forming  the 
garrison,  and  to  keep  them  from  the  next  day  in 
readiness  for  whatever  might  happen.  The  soldiers, 
fully  armed,  were  to  occupy  the  road  and  approach- 
es to  the  Grotto.  The  local  Gendarmerie  and  all 
the  police-officers  had  received  similar  instructions. 

How  far  was  this  menacing  display  of  armed 
force  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public 
tranquillity  ?  It  is  beyond  our  powers  of  compre- 
hension. Was  it  not  to  be  feared  that  these  hostile 
or,  to  say  the  least,  unreasonable  demonstrations, 
and  this  attempt  at  intimidation  might  tend  to  irri- 
tate the  population  of  these  districts,  who,  though 
they  had  hitherto  conducted  themselves  so  peace- 
ably, were  naturally  of  ardent  temperament  and  at 
the  moment  excited  in  the  highest  degree  by  the 
events  we  have  just  narrated?  Was  th^re  not  a 
risk  of  provoking  some  cries  of  anger,  some  move- 
ment, some  seditious  agitation  in  minds  so  power- 
fully excited  by  sentiments  of  religion?  Many 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


179 


feared  this  would  be  the  case.  Others  hoped  it, 
perhaps,  and  confidently  reckoned  on  the  multitude 
giving  the  armed  force  some  pretext  for  interfer- 
ence. The  odds  were  a  hundred  to  one  that  it 
would  turn  out  so. 

VI. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  disquietude  and  suspi- 
cion which  pervaded  official  quarters,  the  fame  of 
these  marvelous  events  had  been  spread  in  all  the 
surrounding  districts  with  electrical  rapidity. 

The  whole  of  Bigorre  and  Bdarn,  previously  agita- 
ted by  the  first  reports  of  the  Apparition,  was  stirred 
to  its  depths  on  receiving  intelligence  of  the  burst- 
ing forth  of  the  Spring  and  the  subsequent  miracu- 
lous cures.  All  the  high-roads  throughout  the  de- 
partment were  covered  with  travelers,  hastening  to 
their  destination.  Every  moment,  from  all  sides, 
by  every  road  and  every  path  which  terminated  in 
Lourdes,  there  arrived  a  motley  crowd  of  vehicles 
of  every  description,  carriages,  wagons,  chars -d 
banes,  men  on  horseback  and  pedestrians. 

Even  at  night  this  rush  suffered  little  diminution. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  mountain  came  down  by 
starlight  in  order  to  reach  the  Grotto  by  morning. 

The  travelers,  who  had  arrived  in  the  first  in- 
stance,  had  for  the  most  part  remained  at  Lourdes, 
not  wishing  to  lose  any  of  these  extraordinary 
scenes  which  had  certainly  not  been  paralleled  for 
centuries  past.  The  hotels,  inns  and  private  houses 
overflowed  with  people.  It  became  almost  impos- 
sible  to  provide  lodgings  for  the  fresh  crowds  which 
continued  to  pour  in.  Many  passed  the  night  in 


180  OUlt  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

prayer  in  front  of  the  illuminated  Grotto,  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  places  nearer  the  youthful 
Seer  on  the  morrow. 

Thursday,  the  fourth  of  March,  was  the  last  day 
of  the  Quinzaine. 

When  day-break  began  to  silver  the  horizon,  the 
approaches  to  the  Grotto  were  more  densely  crowd- 
ed than  on  any  of  the  preceding  days. 

A  painter  such  as  Raphael  or  Michael  Angelo, 
might  have  derived  from  this  living  spectacle  a  sub- 
ject for  an  admirable  picture. 

Here,  an  old  mountaineer,  bent  beneath  the 
weight  of  years,  and  venerable  as  a  patriarch,  sup- 
porting himself  with  his  trembling  hands  upon  his 
enormous  staff  shod  with  iron,  met  your  view. 

Around  him  was  crowded  all  his  family,  from  the 
grandmother,  an  ancient  matron  with  attenuated  fea- 
tures, her  face  tanned  and  wrinkled,  hooded  in  her 
flowing  black  cloak  lined  with  red,  down  to  the 
youngest  boy,  who  stood  on  tip-toe  in  order  to  ob- 
tain a  better  view.  The  young  maidens  of  the 
mountain,  their  hands  clasped  with  fervor,  beauti- 
ful, calm  and  grave  as  the  splendid  Virgins  of  the 
Campagna  of  Rome,  prayed  alone  or  in  groups. 
Many  of  them  were  dropping  through  their  fingers 
the  rustic  beads  of  their  chaplet.  Some  of  them 
were  reading  in  silence  some  book  of  prayer.  Others 
holding  in  their  hand  or  even  on  their  head  an 
earthen  jar,  to  be  filled  with  the  miraculous  water, 
recalled  to  the  imagination  the  biblical  countenances 
of  Rebecca  or  Rachel. 

There  you  saw  the  peasant  of  Gers  with  his 
enormous  head,  his  bull  neck  and  face  apoplectic, 
and  coarse-featured  like  that  of  Vitellius.  At  hi* 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  igl 

Bide  appeared  in  profile  the  finely-marked  head  of 
the  Bearnais,  which  has  been  rendered  so  familiar 
by  the  innumerable  portraits  of  Henry  IV. 

The  Basques,  of  middle  stature,  but  appearing 
tall  owing  to  their  wonderful  erectness,  with  fine 
open  chests,  rather  high  shoulders  and  limbs  indica- 
tive of  great  agility,  looked  on  perfectly  motion- 
less, and  seemed  rooted  to  the  soil.  Their  high 
forehead,  narrow  and  prominent  chin,  their  visage 
thin  and  in  the  shape  of  a  V,  their  characteristic 
features  and  the  distinctness  of  their  type,  indica- 
ted the  primordial  purity  of  their  race,  which 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  ancient  in  the  land  of  the 
Gauls. 

Men  of  the  world,  of  all  professions,  magistrates, 
shop-keepers,  notaries,  advocates,  doctors  and 
clerks,  displaying  forms  less  rough  but  at  the  same 
time  less  marked,  more  humble  or  more  polished, 
more  distinguished  in  the  opinion  of  some,  more 
vulgar  in  that  of  others,  were  mingled  in  great 
aumbers  with  the  crowd. 

The  ladies,  in  bonnets  and  veils,  with  their  hands 
ouried  in  their  muffs,  seemed,  in  spite  of  all  their 
precautions,  to  suffer  from  the  frosty  morning  air, 
and  might  be  seen  changing  their  position  and  mov- 
ing about  in  hopes  of  keeping  themselves  warm. 

A  few  Spaniards  scattered  here  and  there,  re- 
markable for  their  impassible  dignity,  and  envelop- 
ed in  the  capacious  folds  of  their  large  cloaks,  stood 
waiting  with  the  immobility  of  statues.  They  kept 
their  eyes  fixed  on  the  Grotto  and  prayed.  They 
scarcely  turned  their  heads  when  any  incident  or 
the  undulation  of  the  crowd  forcibly  withdrew 
them  from  their  contemplation  ;  their  darkly  lumin- 


Ig2  OUR  LAD7  OF  LOURDE8. 

ous  eyes  flashed  for  a  moment  on  the  multitude  and 
they  resumed  their  prayers. 

In  many  places  the  pilgrims,  fatigued  with  their 
journey,  or  their  stations  during  the  night,  were 
sitting  on  the  ground.  Some  of  them  with  prudent 
foresight,  had  with  them  knapsacks  furnished  with 
provisions.  Others  carried  in  a  sling  a  bottle-gourd 
filled  with  wine.  Many  of  the  children  had  fallen 
asleep  stretched  on  the  ground,  and  their  mothers, 
stripping  themselves  of  their  capulets,  cautiously 
covered  them  with  them. 

A  few  troopers,  belonging  to  the  cavalry  regiment 
at  Tarbes  or  the  depot  at  Lourdes,  had  come 
mounted  and  stationed  themselves  out  of  the  way 
of  the  bustle  in  the  bed  of  the  Gave.  Many  of  the 
pilgrims,  and  others  brought  there  by  mere  curi- 
osity, had  climbed  into  the  trees,  and  from  their 
isolated  heads,  which  towered  above  the  rest  and 
were  very  conspicuous,  all  the  fields,  meadows, 
roads,  hillocks,  and  eminences  which  commanded  the 
Grotto,  were  seen  literally  covered  with  an  innumer- 
able multitude  of  men,  women  and  children,  of  old 
men,  persons  of  all  classes,  workmen,  peasants  and 
soldiers,  all  agitated,  closely  packed  together,  an<f 
swaying  to  and  fro  like  ripe  ears  of  corn.  The  pic 
turesque  costumes  of  those  districts  flaunted  theii 
^audy  colors  in  the  first  rays  of  the  sun,  whose  dish 
>vas  beginning  to  appear  from  behind  the  peaks  of 
the  Ger.  From  a  distance,  the  hills  of  Vizens,  for 
instance,  the  capulets  of  the  women,  some  white  as 
snow,  others  of  a  brilliant  scarlet,  combined  with 
the  large  blue  caps  of  the  peasants  of  Beam,  shone 
like  daisies,  poppies  and  corn-flowers  from  the  midst 
of  this  harvest  of  human  beings.  The  helmets  of 


OUR   LADY  OF  LOUBDE8.  jgj 

the  troopers  stationed  in  the  bed  of  the  Gave  flashed 
in  the  early  rays  whicb  broke  from  the  east. 

There  could  not  have  been  less  than  twenty 
thousand  persons  spread  over  the  banks  of  the 
Gave,  and  this  multitude  was  incessantly  recruited 
by  the  arrival  of  new  pilgrims  from  all  quarters. 

On  these  countenances  were  depicted  prayer, 
curiosity,  and  scepticism.  Every  class,  every  idea 
every  sentiment  was  represented  in  this  immense 
multitude.  There  was  to  be  found  there  the  rough- 
hewn  Christian  of  the  first  ages,  who  knows  that 
with  God  all  things  are  possible.  Further  on  might 
be  seen  the  Christian  tormented  with  doubts,  who 
had  come  before  these  wild  rocks  in  search  of  argu- 
ments for  the  firmer  establishment  of  his  faith.  The 
believing  woman  was  also  there,  demanding  from 
the  divine  Mother  the  recovery  of  some  dear  one 
brought  low  by  sickness,  or  the  conversion  of  some 
beloved  soul.  There  also  was  the  decided  rejecter 
of  the  Supernatural,  having  eyes  which  would  not 
see  and  ears  which  would  not  hear.  And  lastly, 
there  might  be  found  there  the  frivolous-minded 
man,  oblivious  of  his  own  soul's  best  interests,  in 
search  only,  beneath  Heaven,  which  was  half-opened 
to  his  gaze,  of  the  amusement  of  his  curiosity  in 
what  to  his  eyes  was  a  trivial  spectacle. 

Around  this  crowd  and  along  the  road  the  Con- 
stables and  the  Gendarmes  kept  going  to  and  fro 
in  a  state  of  nervous  anxiety.  The  Deputy,  having 
on  his  official  scarf,  remained  motionless. 

On  a  little  eminence  might  be  seen  Jacomet  and 
the  Procureur  Imperial,  closely  watching  the  state 
of  things  and  prepared  to  take  rigorous  measure* 
on  the  slightest  appearance  of  disorder. 


184  OUR  LADY   OF  LOU1WE& 

There  proceeded  from  the  multitude  an  immense, 
vague,  confused  and  indescribable  murmur,  formed 
ot  a  thousand  different  noises,  of  words,  conversa- 
tions, prayers  and  exclamations,  resembling  the 
unappeasable  roar  of  the  ocean. 

Suddenly  an  exclamation  broke  forth  from  the 
lips  of  all,  "  There  is  the  youthful  Saint !  there  is 
the  youthful  Saint!"  and  an  extraordinary  agitation 
pervaded  the  whole  crowd.  The  hearts  of  all,  even 
of  the  coldest,  were  stirred  with  emotion :  every 
head  was  lifted  and  every  eye  directed  to  the  same 
point. 

Bernadette,  accompanied  by  her  mother,  had  just 
made  her  appearance  on  the  path  laid  out  by  the 
Brotherhood  of  Quarry-men  some  days  before,  and 
was  calmly  descending  towards  this  sea  of  human 
beings.  Although  she  had  this  vast  multitude  be- 
fore her  eyes  and  was  doubtless  filled  with  happi- 
ness at  seeing  so  many  testimonials  of  adoration  for 
"  the  Lady "  she  was  entirely  absorbed  with  the 
thought  of  seeing  once  more  that  incomparable 
Beauty.  Who  cares  to  gaze  on  earth  when  heaven 
is  on  the  point  of  throwing  wide  its  gates  ?  She 
was  so  completely  engrossed  with  the  joyful  hope 
which  filled  her  heart  that  the  cries  of  "  There  is 
the  youthful  Saint,"  and  the  testimonials  of  popular 
veneration  did  not  appear  to  reach  her.  She  was 
so  full  of  the  image  of  the  Vision,  she  was  so  per- 
fectly humble,  that  she  had  not  even  vanity  enough 
to  cause  her  to  blush  or  to  suffer  from  confusion. 

The  Gendarmes,  however,  had  hastened  to  the 
spot,  and  breaking  through  the  crowd  in  front  of 
Bernadette,  formed  an  escort  for  the  child  and  ef 
fected  a  passage  for  her  up  to  the  Grotto. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

These  excellent  fellows,  like  the  soldiers,  believed, 
and  their  sympathizing  and  pious  deportment  pre- 
vented the  crowd  from  being  irritated  at  such  an 
employment  of  armed  force,  and  further  disap- 
pointed the  calculations  of  the  crafty. 

The  thousand  cries  of  the  multitude  had  by  de- 
grees subsided,  and  a  great  silence  ensued.  There 
could  not  be  greater  recollection  in  any  of  the 
Churches  of  Christendom  during  Mass,  on  the  oc- 
casion of  an  ordination  or  a  first  communion.  Every 
one,  to  a  certain  degree,  held  his  breath.  No  one 
shutting  his  eyes  would  have  imagined  that  so  vast 
a  crowd  was  there  assembled,  and  amid  the  univer- 
sal silence  the  murmur  of  the  Gave  would  alone 
have  struck  his  ear.  Those  who  were  near  the 
Grotto  could  distinguish  the  bubbling  of  the  mi- 
raculous Spring  as  it  flowed  calmly  into  the  little 
reservoir  through  the  little  wooden  pipe  which  had 
oeen  placed  for  that  purpose. 

When  Bernadette  prostrated  herself,  every  one, 
by  a  unanimous  movement,  knelt  down. 

Almost  simultaneously  the  superhuman  rays  of 
ecstacy  lighted  up  the  transfigured  features  of  the 
child.  We  shall  not  describe  again  this  marvelous 
spectacle  of  which  we  have  more  than  once  endeav- 
ored to  convey  some  idea  to  our  reader.  It  was  a 
spectacle  ever  new,  as  is  the  rising  of  the  sun  every 
morning.  The  power  which  produces  such  splen- 
dors has  the  infinite  at  its  disposal,  and  employs  it 
unceasingly  to  diversify  the  external  form  of  its 
eternai  unity ;  but  the  pen  of  a  poor  author  com- 
mands only  limited  resources  and  pale  colors.  If 
Jacob,  the  son  of  Isaac,  wrestled  with  the  Angel, 
the  artist,  n  his  weakness,  cannot  wrestle  with 


1 86  OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDES. 

God ;  and  there  is  a  time,  when  feeling  his  utter 
inability  to  express  by  his  art  all  the  delicate  grada- 
tions of  the  divine  work,  he  is  silent  and  confinei 
himself  to  the  act  of  adoration.  I  leave,  therefore, 
to  souls  which  peruse  my  feeble  lines  the  task  ot 
imagining  all  the  successive  joys,  all  the  melting 
feelings,  all  the  graces  and  celestial  inebriation 
which  the  blessed  Vision  of  the  immaculate  Virgin, 
the  admirable  Beauty  with  which  God  himself  was 
charmed,  caused  to  pass  over  the  innocent  brow  of 
the  enraptured  Bernadette. 

The  Apparition,  as  on  the  preceding  days,  had 
commanded  the  child  to  drink  at  and  wash  herself 
in  the  Fountain,  and  to  eat  of  the  plant  to  which 
we  have  already  referred ;  she  had  afterwards  re- 
newed her  order  to  her  to  go  and  tell  the  Priests 
that  she  desired  a  chapel  built  on  the  spot  and  pro- 
cessions to  repair  to  it. 

The  child  had  besought  the  Apparition  to  inform 
her  of  her  name,  but  the  radiant  "  Lady  "  had  not 
returned  any  answer  to  the  question.  The  moment 
for  doing  so  had  not  yet  arrived.  It  behoved  that 
Her  name  should  be  first  inscribed  on  the  earth  and 
engraved  on  the  heart  by  uncounted  deeds  of 
mercy.  The  Queen  of  Heaven  wished  to  be  inden- 
tified  by  her  benefits  ;  She  intended  that  the  grate- 
ful voice  of  every  mouth  should  name  Her  and 
glorify  Her  before  She  answered  and  said  :  "  Your 
heart  has  not  deceived  you  :  it  is  I  indeed." 

VII. 

BERNADETTE  had  just  set  out  on  her  return  to 
Lourdes.  In  the  immense  crowd,  whicv  we  have 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDB3.  187 

attempted  to  describe,  and  which  was  now  slowly 
dispersing,  the  question  was  continually  recurring, 
diversified  with  a  thousand  commentaries>  "  What 
could  be  the  signification  of  the  strange  and  mys- 
terious order  given  by  the  Apparition  to  the  child 
the  week  before,  an  order  reiterated  several  times 
and  more  especially  that  very  day."  They  ex- 
amined all  its  details  and  weighed  all  its  circum- 
stances. 

The  Blessed  Virgin,  addressing  herself  to  the 
daughter  of  man,  and  speaking  perhaps  to  us  all 
through  her,  had  commanded  Bernadette  to  turn 
her  back  on  the  Gave,  to  ascend  towards  the  rock, 
even  to  the  farthest  corner  of  the  Grotto,  to  drink,  to 
eat  of  the  plant,  and  to  wash  in  the  Fountain,  which 
at  that  time  was  invisible  to  all  eyes.  The  child 
had  obeyed  in  every  particular  the  divine  voice. 
She  had  scaled  the  steep  ascent.  She  had  eaten  of 
the  plant.  She  had  scooped  out  the  earth.  The 
water  had  burst  forth,  at  first  feeble  and  turbid, 
afterwards  in  greater  abundance  and  clearer;  and 
in  proportion  as  it  was  drawn,  it  had  become  in  a 
few  days  a  copious  and  magnificent  jet-deau,  clear 
as  crystal  —  a  stream  of  life  for  the  sick  and  infirm. 

It  required  no  profound  knowledge  of  the  science 
of  Symbolism  to  comprehend  the  deep  meaning,  so 
admirably  adapted  to  the  times,  of  this  order,  in 
which  the  imbecility  of  philosophy  could  detect 
only  what  was  fantastic. 

What  is  the  evil  of  modern  societies?  In  the 
order  of  ideas,  is  it  not  pride  ?  We  are  now  living 
in  days  when  man  makes  himself  God.  In  the 
order  of  morals,  is  it  not  the  most  unbridled  sensu- 
ality, the  love  of  everything  which  is  in  its  nature 


188  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUHDES. 

transitory  ?  What  is  the  cause,  and  what  is  th« 
object  of  this  prodigious  activity,  this  marvelous 
industry  which  distracts  the  world  ?  Man  wishes 
enjoyment.  Through  so  many  fatigues,  he  seeks 
physical  comforts,  pleasures,  and  the  satisfaction  of 
his  most  material  and  most  selfish  instincts.  He 
places  the  aim  and  object  of  his  wishes  here  below, 
as  if  he  were  to  live  for  ever.  And  this  is  why  he 
never  dreams  of  directing  his  steps  towards  the 
Church,  the  suspicion  never  having  once  crossed 
him  that  She  alone  possesses  the  secret  of  true  life 
and  endless  happiness. 

"  O  senseless  mortals,"  says  the  Mother  of  the 
human  race,  "  go  not  to  quench  your  thirst  at  the 
Gave,  whose  waters  fleet  rapidly  by ;  with  those 
ephemeral  passions  which  falsely  promise  you  '  al- 
ways,' while  the  apparent  life  of  the  senses  is 
but  a  kind  of  death ;  with  those  material  joys,  which 
destroy  the  spirit ;  with  those  waters  which  irritate 
your  thirst  instead  of  appeasing  it ;  with  those  un- 
availing waters  which  afford  you  but  a  momentary 
illusion,  and  leave  you  in  the  same  state  of  misery, 
wretchedness  and  want  you  experienced  before ! 
Forsake  those  tumultuous  and  agitated  waves,  turn 
your  back  on  those  billows  which  soon  sink  for 
ever,  and  oti  that  torrent  which  flings  itself  head- 
long  into  the  abyss.  Come  to  the  Fountain  which 
quenches  your  thirst  and  calms  your  mind,  which 
heals  you  and  brings  you  back  to  life.  Come  and 
drink  at  the  Fountain  which  dispenses  true  jo}  and 
true  life,  that  Fountain  which  gushes  from  the  un- 
changeable Rock  on  which  the  Church  has  laid 
her  eternal  foundations.  Come  and  drink  from 
and  wash  yourselves  in  that  gushing  Fountain.  ... 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOU1WES.  189 

"  Drink  at  the  Fountain !  But  where  is  it  ? 
Where,  then,  in  the  rock  of  the  Church  is  that 
Spring  of  unheard-of  graces  ?  Alas  !  the  times  arc 
past  and  gone  when  the  Church  restored  the  power 
of  walking  to  the  paralytic,  and  sight  to  the  blind  ! 
In  vain  do  we  fix  our  eyes  on  the  unchangeable 
rock,  our  eyes  do  not  perceive  that  miraculous 
Fountain  in  which  the  sick  are  healed.  Either  it 
never  was  in  existence  or  its  source  has  been  dry 
for  the  last  eighteen  hundred  years." 

Such  is  the  view  taken  by  the  world. 

"Ask  and  you  shall  receive,"  say  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. "  If  prodigies  do  not  arise  in  the  midst  of 
you,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  it  is  so  because 
being  devoted  to  mere  sensual  existence,  and  re- 
fusing to  admit  anything  you  cannot  actually  see 
with  your  eyes,  you  do  not  seek  for  the  miraculous 
fountain  in  the  secrets  of  divine  goodness.  You 
do  not  see  the  water,  you  say,  gush  forth  in  the 
mysterious  corner  of  the  Sanctuary?  Nothwith 
standing  this,  only  believe,  O  Bernadette,  and  all  ye 
children  of  men.  Come  and  draw  from  it  with  the 
entire  faith  which  the  sucking -babe  has  when  he 
glues  his  lips  to  his  mother's  breast.  What  is  Prov- 
idence but  our  Mother  ?  See,  then,  the  Fountain 
how  it  gushes  forth  and  increases  in  volume  as  its 
water  is  drawn  from  it,  precisely  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  milk  of  a  mother  flows  to  the  lips  of  her 
infant  " 

"  Drink !  But  this  water  which  issues  from  the 
rock  passes  through  impure  elements !  The  Clergy 
have  a  thousand  human  thoughts  and  peculiar  ideas 
which  have  naught  to  do  with  heaven.  They  have 
impregnated  the  divine  Spring  with  earth.  Wash 


190  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

myself  in  it  ?  Ah  !  I  am  more  highly  educated, 
less  sullied  by  vice  and  more  noble-minded  than 
this  priest !" 

"  Proud  wretch,  art  thou  not  also  formed  of  earthly 
clay  ?  Memento  quod  pulvis  es.  Eat  of  the  plant, 
humiliate  thyself,  and  be  mindful  of  thy  origin. 
Does  not  everything  with  which  thou  art  nourish 
ed  pass  through  the  earth,  and  does  not  thy  daily 
subsistence  proceed  always  from  the  clay  of  which 
thou  wert  formed  ? 

"  Is  the  Spring  dried  up  ?  Humble  faith  will  cause 
it  to  gush  forth  anew.  Is  it  muddy  ?  Is  it  impure? 
Drink,  then,  copious  draughts  from  it,  and  it  will 
become  clear,  transparent  and  luminous,  and  the 
sick  and  the  infirm  will  be  healed  by  its  waters. 
How  plain  is  the  teaching  given  to  all  the  faithful ! 
Would  you  effect  a  change  for  the  better  in  the  Cler- 
gy ?  Would  you  bring  them  back  to  a  state  of  Aposto- 
lical virtue  ?  Would  you  sanctify  the  human  ele- 
ment of  the  Church  ?  Partake  of  the  Sacraments 
which  are  dispensed  by  the  Priesthood.  Be  only 
sheep,  and  you  will  have  pastors.  Wash  yourselves 
in  the  soul  of  your  priest,  and  it  will  purify  itself 
while  it  is  working  your  purification.  You  have 
suffered  the  Fountain  of  Miracles  to  be  lost,  owing 
to  your  not  availing  yourselves  of  its  use.  It  is  by 
the  reverse  of  this  conduct,  it  is  by  using  it  that 
you  must  find  it  again.  Qucerite  et  invenietis.  If 
you  would  have  the  gate  opened  to  you,  you  must 
knock.  If  you  would  receive,  you  -oust  demand.' 


OUB  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  191 

VIII. 

ALTHOUGH  the  crowd  was,  as  we  have  already 
stated,  more  particularly  dense  in  the  morning  at 
the  time  of  Bernadette's  arrival,  it  was  not  to  be 
supposed  that  solitude  reigned  during  the  after 
part  of  the  day  at  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  All 
the  afternoon  there  was  perpetual  going  to  and  frc 
on  the  road  leading  to  the  Grotto,  which,  from  that 
time,  was  to  be  so  celebrated.  Every  one  examin- 
ed it  in  all  directions,  many  prayed  in  front  of  it, 
and  some  broke  off  fragments  of  it  in  order  to  keep 
them  as  pious  souvenirs. 

On  that  day,  towards  four  o'clock,  there  were 
still  five  or  six  hundred  persons,  employed  as  above- 
mentioned,  on  the  banks  of  the  Gave. 

At  the  same  moment,  a  heart-rending  scene  was 
passing  round  a  cradle  in  a  squalid  house  at 
Lourdes,  in  which  resided  Jean  Beauhohorts,  a  day- 
laborer,  and  his  wife  Croisine  Ducouts. 

In  the  cradle  there  lay  a  child  about  two  years 
old,  who  was  sickly,  and  of  a  wretched  constitu- 
tion. He  had  never  been  able  to  walk,  was  con- 
stantly out  of  health,  and,  from  his  birth,  had  been 
wasted  by  slow  fever  of  a  consumptive  nature, 
which  nothing  had  succeeded  in  reducing.  Not 
withstanding  the  skillful  attention  of  a  medical  man 
of  the  place,  M.  Peyrus,  the  child  was  rapidly  ap- 
proaching his  end.  Death  was  spreading  its  livid 
hues  on  a  countenance  which  had  been  reduced  by 
protracted  sufferings  to  a  deplorable  state  of  emacia- 
tion. 

The  father  and  mother  kept  their  eyes  fixed  on 


I92 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUHDES. 


their  dying   child,  the  former,  calm   in   his 
while  the  latter  seemed  plunged  in  despair. 

One  of  their  neighbors,  Frangonnette  Gozos  was 
already  busying  herself  in  preparing  a  shroud  for 
the  poor  child's  burial,  and,  at  the  same  time,  using 
her  best  efforts  to  induce  the  mother  to  listen  to 
some  words  of  consolation. 

The  latter  was  crushed  with  grief,  and  anxiously 
watched  the  progress  of  the  last  agony  of  death. 
The  child's  eye  had  become  glazed,  his  limbs  were 
absolutely  motionless,  and  his  breathing  was  imper 
ceptible. 

"  He  is  dead,"  said  the  father. 

"  If  he  is  not  dead,"  observed  the  neighbor,  "  he 
is  on  the  point  of  death,  my  poor  friend.  Go  and 
weep  by  the  fire,  while  I,  ere  long,  fold  him  up  in 
his  shroud." 

Croisine  Ducouts,  the  mother  of  the  child,  did  not 
appear  to  hear  what  was  said  to  her.  A  sudden 
idea  had  just  taken  possession  of  her  mind,  and  her 
tears  ceased  to  flow. 

"  He  is  not  dead  !"  she  exclaimed  ;  "  and  the 
Holy  Virgin  of  the  Grotto  is  going  to  effect  his 
cure  for  me." 

"  Grief  has  turned  her  head,"  said  Beauhohorts. 
sadly. 

He  and  the  neighbor  endeavored  in  vain  to  de- 
suade  the  mother  from  her  project.  The  latter  had 
just  taken  the  already  motionless  body  of  her 
child  out  of  the  cradle  and  wrapped  it  up  in  her 
apron. 

"  I  go  at  once  to  the  Virgin  !'  she  exclaimed 
making  her  way  to  the  door. 

"  But  my  dear  Croisine,"  said  her  husband  and 


OUR  LAD 7  OF  LOURDES.  193 

Frangonnette  to  her,  "  if  our  poor  Justin  is  not  quite 
dead,  you  are  going  to  kill  him  outright." 

The  mother,  as  if  beside  herself  with  grief,  refus- 
ed to  listen  to  their  expostulations. 

"  What  matters  it  whether  he  dies  here  or  at  the 
Grotto !  Allow  me  to  implore  the  mercy  of  the 
Mother  of  God." 

Saying  this  she  left  the  house,  carrying  the  child 
in  her  arms. 

As  she  had  said,  "she  went  at  once  to  the  Virgin." 
She  walked  at  a  rapid  pace,  praying  aloud,  invok- 
ing Mary,  and  appearing  to  all  who  met  her  like  an 
insane  person. 

It  was  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and 
there  were  some  hundreds  of  persons  before  the 
Rocks  of  Massabielle. 

The  poor  mother  forced  her  way  through  the 
crowd,  with  her  precious  burden  in  her  arms.  At 
the  entrance  of  the  Grotto  she  prostrated  herself 
and  prayed,  after  which  she  dragged  herself  on  her 
knees  towards  the  miraculous  Spring.  Her  face 
was  burning,  her  eyes  sparkling  and  full  of  tears, 
and  the  state  of  disorder  of  her  entire  person  prov 
ed  the  intensity  of  her  grief. 

She  had  reached  the  basin  which  had  been  dug 
by  the  quarry-men.  The  water  was  of  an  icy  tem- 
perature. 

"  What  is  she  going  to  do?"  observed  the  spec- 
tators to  themselves. 

Croisine  drew  out  of  ner  apron  the  body  of  her 
dying  child,  which  was  in  a  state  of  complete  nu- 
dity. She  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross  on  him  and 
herself,  and  afterwards,  without  hesitation,  and 
in  a  quick  and  determined  manner,  plunged  the 
9 


194  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

child  up  to  his  neck  in  the  icy  water  of  the 
Spring. 

A  cry  of  terror,  and  a  murmur  of  indignation 
arose  from  the  crowd. 

"  The  woman  is  insane  !"  they  exclaimed  on  all 
sides,  pressing  round  her  to  hinder  her  putting 
her  plan  into  execution. 

"  Would  you  kill  your  child  ?  "  said  some  one  to 
her,  rudely.  It  seemed  as  if  she  were  deaf.  She 
remained  motionless  as  a  statue, — the  statue  of  Sor- 
row, Prayer,  and  Faith. 

One  of  the  by-standers  touched  her  on  the  shoul- 
der. The  mother  turned  round  on  this,  still  keep- 
ing her  child  in  the  water  of  the  Fountain. 

"  Let  me  alone,  let  me  alone  !"  she  exclaimed  in 
a  voice  at  once  energetic  and  beseeching.  "  I  wish 
to  do  all  in  my  power, — God  and  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin will  do  the  rest." 

The  complete  immobility  of  the  child  and  the 
cadaverous  hues  of  his  face,  were  remarked  by  sev- 
eral of  those  present. 

"  The  child  is  already  dead,"  they  said.  "  Let 
her  alone;  grief  has  turned  the  poor  mother's 
head." 

No ;  grief  had  not  turned  her  head.  It  led  her, 
on  the  contrary,  into  the  path  of  the  loftiest  faith, 
of  that  absolute,  unhesitating,  undecaying  faith 
which  God  has  solemnly  promised  never  to  resist. 
The  earthly  mother  felt  within  her,  that  she  was  ad- 
dressing herself  to  the  heart  of  that  Mother  who  is 
in  heaven.  Thence  arose  her  boundless  confidence 
which  neutralized  the  terrible  reality  of  the  dying 
body  she  held  in  her  hands.  Doubtless,  she  saw 
as  plainly  as  the  multitude  around  her,  that  ice-cold 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  195 

"vater  such  as  that  in  which  she  was  plunging  her 
child,  was  calculated,  in  ordinary  circumstances  in- 
fallibly to  kill  the  little  hapless  being  to  whom  she 
was  so  fondly  attached,  and  suddenly  to  terminate 
his  agony  by  the  strokeof  death.  No  matter !  Her 
arm  remained  steady  and  her  Faith  was  strong. 
For  a  whole  quarter  of  an  hour,  before  the  aston- 
ished eyes  of  the  multitude,  in  the  midst  of  the 
cries,  reproaches,  and  insults  heaped  upon  her  by 
the  crowd  of  by-standers,  she  kept  her  child  im- 
mersed in  the  mysterious  water  which  had  but  late- 
ly gushed  forth  at  a  gesture  from  the  all-powerful 
Mother  of  that  God,  who,  for  our  sins,  died  and  rose 
again. 

What  a  sublime  spectacle  of  Catholic  faith !  This 
woman  precipitated  her  dying  child  into  the  most 
imminent  of  earthly  dangers,  to  find  in  it,  in  the 
name  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  cure  which  comes 
from  heaven.  Humanly  speaking,  she  was  urging 
him  in  the  direction  of  death,  in  order  to  lead  him 
supernatu rally  to  life !  Jesus  commended  the  faith 
of  the  Centurion.  Truly,  that  displayed  by  this 
poor  mother  strikes  us  as  being  still  more  worthy 
of  admiration. 

The  Heart  of  God  could  not  but  be  touched  by 
an  act  of  faith,  at  once  so  simple  and  so  grand. 
Our  Father,  who  is,  at  the  same  time,  so  invisible 
and  so  manifest,  bent  Himself,  doubtless,  at  the 
same  time  as  the  Blessed  Virgin,  over  so  moving 
and  religious  a  scene,  and  He  blessed  the  Christian 
woman,  who  believed  with  all  the  fervor  of  primi- 
tive times. 

The  child  had  remained  motionless  as  a  corpse 
during  this  long  immersion.  The  mother  wrapped 


96  O  UR  LAD  Y  OF  LO  URDES. 

him  once  more  in  her  apron,  and  hastily  re- 
turned home.  His  body  was  cold  as  ice. 

"  You  see  now  that  he  is  dead,"  said  the 
father. 

"  No,"  said  Croisine,  "  he  is  not  dead !  The 
Blessed  Virgin  will  effect  his  recovery." 

With  these  words  the  poor  woman  iaid  the  child 
down  in  his  cradle.  He  had  scarcely  been  there  a 
few  moments,  when  the  mother,  having  bent  her  ear 
attentively  over  him,  suddenly  exclaimed  : 

"  He  is  breathing !" 

Beauhohorts  advanced  rapidly  and  listened  in  his 
turn.  Little  Justin  was  certainly  breathing.  His 
eyes  were  closed,  and  he  slept  a  calm  and  deep 
slumber. 

The  mother  did  not  weep.  During  the  evening 
and  following  night,  she  came  every  moment  to  lis- 
ten to  her  child's  respiration,  which  became  stronger 
and  more  regular,  and  she  waited  with  anxiety  for 
the  moment  of  his  awaking. 

This  took  place  at  break  of  day. 

The  child's  emaciation  had  not  disappeared,  but 
there  was  some  color  in  his  cheeks,  and  his  features 
wore  an  air  of  repose.  The  mild  ray  of  life  spark- 
led in  his  laughing  eyes,  which  were  turned  towards 
nis  mother. 

During  his  slumber,  deep  as  that  sent  of  yore 
by  God  upon  Adam,  the  mysterious  and  omnipotent 
hand,  from  which  every  thing  good  emanates,  had 
re-animated  and  strengthened — we  dare  not  say  re- 
suscitated— his  body,  which,  but  a  short  time  before 
was  motionless  and  chill. 

The  child  sought  his  mother's  breast  and  drew 
from  it  long  draughts.  Though  he  had  never  walk« 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOTTRDES.  igp 

ed,  he  wished  to  leave  his  cradle  and  walk  about  the 
room.  But  Croisine,  notwithstanding  the  courage 
and  entire  faith  she  had  displayed  the  previous  day, 
dared  not  trust  too  much  in  his  recovery,  and 
trembled  at  the  thought  of  the  danger  he  had  es- 
caped. She  resisted  the  repeated  solicitations  of 
the  child,  and  refused  to  remove  him  from  the  era- 
die. 

Thus  the  day  passed  by.  The  child  constantly 
demanded  nourishment  from  his  mother's  breasts 
Night  at  length  came,  and  was  passed  as  calmly  as 
the  one  preceding  it.  The  father  and  mother  left 
the  house  at  day-break,  in  order  to  proceed  to  their 
daily  toil,  and  their  little  Justin  was  still  sleeping  in 
his  cradle. 

When  the  mother  opened  the  door  on  her  return, 
she  almost  fainted  at  the  sight  presented  to  her 
view. 

The  cradle  was  empty.  Justin  had  risen  without 
any  assistance  from  where  his  mother  had  laid  him ; 
he  was  on  his  legs  going  to  and  fro,  touching  the 
different  articles  of  furniture,  and  disarranging  the 
chairs.  In  short,  the  little  paralyzed  child  was 
walking. 

A  mother's  heart  alone  can  imagine  the  cry  oi 
joy  emitted  by  Croisine  at  such  a  spectacle.  She 
wished  to  rush  forward,  but  could  not,  so  great  was 
her  emotion.  Her  limbs  trembled.  Her  sense  of 
happiness  seemed  to  deprive  her  of  strength,  and 
she  supported  herself  against  the  door.  A  vague 
fear,  however,  in  spite  of  herself,  was  mingled  with 
her  beaming  happiness. 

"  Take  care,  you  will  fall  down !"  she  cried  oul 
with  anxiety. 


198  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

He  did  not  fall ;  his  step  was  firm,  and  he  ran  and 
threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  his  mother,who 
embraced  him  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"He  was  cured  from  yesterday,"  thought  she  to 
herself;  "since  he  wished  to  leave  his  cradle  and 
walk,  and  I,  like  an  infidel,  have  hindered  him,  ow- 
ing to  my  want  of  faith." 

"  You  now  see  that  he  was  not  dead,  and  that  the 
Blessed  Virgin  has  saved  him,"  she  observed  to  her 
husband,  on  his  return  home. 

Such  were  the  words  of  this  happy  mother. 

Fransonnette  Gozos,  who  had,  only  two  nights 
since,  been  present  at  what  was  supposed  to  be  poor 
Justin's  death-agony,  and  had  arranged  the  shroud 
for  his  interment,  happened  to  arrive  at  the  same 
time,  and  could  scarcely  believe  her  eyes.  She  was 
never  tired  of  gazing  at  the  child,  as  if  she  wished 
to  convince  herself  of  his  identity. 

"  It  is  certainly  he !"  she  exclaimed.  "  It  is  cer- 
tainly poor  little  Justin !" 

They  knelt  down. 

His  mother  joined  the  child's  hands  to  raise  them 
towards  heaven;  and,  all  together,  they  offered 
thanksgivings  to  the  Mother  of  Mercies. 

His  malady  never  returned.  Justin  grew  rapidly 
and  suffered  from  no  relapse.  Since  that  period, 
eleven  ^ears  have  elapsed.  The  writer  of  these 
pages  determined  to  see  him,  not  very  long  since 
He  is  strong  and  in  good  health ;  only  his  mother 
grieves  that  he  sometimes  plays  truant  when  sent 
to  school,  and  reproaches  him  with  gadding  about 
more  than  he  ought. 

M.  Peyrus,  the  medical  man,  who  had  attended 
the  child,  frankly  allowed  the  impossibility  of  ex 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  199 

plaining  this  extraordinary  occurrence  according  to 
the  ordinary  rules  of  medical  science. 

The  Doctors  Vergez  and  Dozons  undertook,  sep- 
arately, an  examination  of  this  fact  so  highly  inter- 
esting,  both  as  regards  Science  and  Truth,  and,  like 
M.  Peyrus,they  could  but  attribute  it  to  the  omnip- 
otent agency  of  God.  All  united  in  establishing 
three  circumstances  which  manifestly  impressed  on 
this  cure  a  supernatural  character, — the  duration  of 
the  immersion, — its  immediate  effect — and  the  facul- 
ty of  walking  displayed  as  soon  as  the  child  had 
quitted  his  cradle. 

The  conclusions  of  M.  Vergez'  report  were  un- 
mistakable on  this  head. 

"  A  bath  of  cold  water  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour's 
duration,  in  the  month  of  February,  inflicted  on  a 
child  in  the  agony  of  death,  must,  in  his  opinion, 
and  according  to  all  the  data,  theoretical  and  experi- 
mental, of  medical  science,  produce  immediate  death. 
For,"  added  the  skillful  physician,  "  if  affusions  of 
cold  water,  especially  when  applied  repeatedly, 
may  be  of  the  utmost  service  in  severe  adynamic 
affections,  their  use  is  subject  to  certain  rules  which 
cannot  be  transgressed  without  exposing  life  to  real 
danger.  As  a  general  rule,  the  duration  of  the  ap- 
olication  of  cold  water  should  not  exceed  a  few 
minutes,  because  the  depression  occasioned  by  cold 
would  destroy  all  power  of  reaction  in  the  system. 

"  Now,  the  woman  Ducouts,  having  plunged  her 
cnild  in  the  water  of  the  Fountain,  kept  him  in  it 
for  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  She  therefore 
sought  the  cure  of  her  son  by  means  absolutely 
condemned  by  experience  and  the  rationale  ol  medi- 
cal science,  and  yet  she  did  not  on  that  account  ob- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

tain  it  less  immediately  ;  for,  a  few  moments  later, 
he  fell  into  a  calm  and  deep  sleep  which  lasted  for 
about  twelve  hours.  And  in  order  that  this  fact 
should  stand  out  in  the  clearest  light,  and  that  not 
the  slightest  incertitude  should  hover  over  the  re- 
ality and  instantaneousness  of  its  production,  the 
child,  who  had  never  walked,  escaped  from  his  cradle, 
and  commenced  walking  about  with  the  confidence 
which  is  usually  only  the  result  of  practice,  showing 
by  this  that  this  cure  was  effected  without  any  in- 
termediate state  of  convalescence,  in  a  manner  alto- 
get  her  supernatural." 

IX. 

OTHER  cures  continued  to  take  place  in  all  direc- 
tions. It  would  be  impossible  to  report  each  par- 
ticular case,  not  only  from  their  number  but  from 
the  fact  that  the  author  of  this  book  has  made  it  a 
rule  not  to  bring  forward  anything  in  this  class  ol 
facts  of  which  he  has  not  himself  proved  the  exacti- 
tude, not  only  from  the  depositions  of  actual  wit- 
nesses of  what  took  place,  but  also  from  those  per- 
sons who  were  themselves  favored  with  such 
marvelous  graces.  Notwithstanding  then  the  inter- 
est which  attaches  to  every  supernatural  fact,  we 
have  been  obliged  to  confine  ourselves  within  cer- 
tain limits.  We  have  been  forced,  not  without 
regret,  to  discard  from  our  narrative  many  of  these 
wonderful  prodigies,  which  we  had  ourselves  per- 
fectly verified,  and  limit  ourselves  to  producing  a 
circumstantial  history  of  the  most  striking  miracles. 
We  will,  however,  risk  quoting  from  the  official  re- 
port of  the  Commission  named  later  on  to  investi 


O  UR  LAD  Y  OF  LO  URDES.  201 

gate  these  events,  a  few  of  the  cures  which 
took  place  about  this  time,  which  were  duly  au- 
thenticated, and  of  which,  consequently,  the 
fame  was  spread  from  the  very  first  through- 
out the  district.  The  restaurateur,  Blaise  Maumus, 
on  plunging  his  hand  into  the  Spring  had  him- 
self witnessed  the  dissolving  and  disappearance 
of  an  enormous  wen  he  had  in  the  joint  of  his 
wrist.  The  widow  Crozat,  who  had  been  so 
deaf  for  the  last  twenty  years  as  to  be  unable 
to  hear  the  Offices,  suddenly  recovered  her 
hearing  on  making  use  of  this  water.  In  a  sim- 
ilarily  miraculous  manner,  Auguste  Borde,  who 
had  long  been  lame  owing  to  an  accident,  found 
his  leg  become  straight  again  and  recover  its 
strength  and  natural  shape.  All  the  persons  we 
have  just  mentioned  belonged  to  Lourdes,  and 
any  one  who  wished  it  could  hear  from  them  a 
full  account  of  these  extraordinary  facts. 

X. 

ON  the  supposition  that  the  Parquet,  at  whose 
anti-superstitious  tendencies  we  have  already  hinted, 
were  right  in  the  decision  they  had  come  to  of  de- 
nying- every  thing  connected  with  the  Apparition, 
they  had,  in  these  miracles,  so  publicly  attested  and 
proclaimed,  an  excellent  opportunity  of  instituting 
a  rigid  investigation  and  of  prosecuting,  if  neces- 
sary, the  authors  or  propagators  of  these  reports, 
calculated  as  they  were  to  lead  astray  the  public 
conscience  and  trouble  the  minds  of  many.  Unlike 
the  Apparitions  which  had  been  visible  to  Berna- 
dette  alone,  these  cures  were  open  to  universal 
scrutiny.  They  were  numerous,  and,  far  from  being 


202  OUR  LADY  OF  LOTJRDES. 

isolate  i  cases,  they  already  mounted  to  five  and 
twenty  or  thirty.  They  were  within  reach  of  any  one 
who  wished  to  investigate  them.  Every  one  might 
verify,  study,  or  analyze  them  in  order  to  recog- 
nize their  truth  or  demonstrate  that  they  were  false. 

The  Supernatural  was  abandoning  the  invisible: 
it  was  becoming  material  and  palpable  to  the  senses. 
In  the  persons  of  the  sick  restored  to  health,  of 
para.ytics  who  recovered  the  power  of  motion,  it 
appealed  to  all,  as  did  Jesus  Christ  to  the  Apostle 
Thomas,  "  Look  at  my  feet,  look  at  my  hands.  See 
these  darkened  eyes  which  have  refound  the  bless- 
ings of  light.  Look  at  those  restored  to  life  who 
were  but  now  in  the  agony  of  death ;  those  now 
hearing  who  were  formerly  deaf;  those  now  run- 
ning with  the  agility  of  strength  and  health  who  not 
long  since  were  lame."  The  Supernatural  had,  so 
to  speak,  incarnated  itself  in  all  these  incurables 
who  had  been  cured  so  suddenly,  and,  publicly 
attesting  its  own  claims,  courted  inquiry,  investiga- 
tion and  prosecution.  It  became  possible,  if  we 
may  be  permitted  to  use  such  an  expression,  to  lay 
violent  hands  upon  it  and  arrest  it  like  any  other 
criminal. 

Here  lay,  as  every  one  perceived,  the  very  core 
of  the  question.  Some  satisfactory  method  of  treat- 
ing these  inconceivable  facts,  which  were  so  entirely 
opposed  to  all  received  notions,  must  be  discovered. 
There  was  therefore  hardly  any  one  who  did  not 
endeavor  to  guess  the  crafty  and  energetic  means 
which  would  be  employed  by  that  fraction  of  the 
official  world  which  had  hitherto  displayed  so  firm 
a  resolution  of  unceasingly  persecuting  and  finally 
crushing  fanaticism. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURD.ES.  203 

What  kind  of  interrogatories  would  be  instituted 
by  the  Police  ?  With  what  kind  of  judicial  examina- 
tions would  the  Parquet  commence  ?  To  what  severe 
measures  would  the  Administration  have  recourse? 
The  Administration,  the  Parquet,  and  the  Police  dir* 
nothing  at  all,  and  directing  their  attention  in  otlir* 
quarters,  did  not  think  it  advisable  to  run  any  ris* 
in  a  public  investigation  of  facts  so  notorious  and 
so  bruited  abroad  over  the  whole  surrounding  dis- 
trict. 

What  was  the  meaning  of  this  singular  forbear- 
ance in  presence  of  such  striking  prodigies?  It 
meant  that  Incredulity  acts  prudently. 

Even  in  the  midst  of  their  transport  and  passion, 
parties,  religious  as  well  as  political,  have  some- 
times a  certain  instinct  of  self-preservation  which 
warns  them  of  the  extreme  danger  into  which  they 
are  on  the  point  of  rushing  and  forces  them  to  re- 
coil. They  cease  all  at  once  to  advance  towards 
the  logical  development  of  their  situation  and  have 
not  courage  to  attack  their  enemy  on  that  decisive 
point  towards  which  they  were  blindly  hurrying, 
uttering  triumphant  shouts  in  anticipation  of  vic- 
tory. They  are  suddenly  brought  to  understand 
that  they  would  be  entirely,  suddenly  and  hope- 
lessly vanquished,  and  that  such  a  line  of  action  can 
only  terminate  in  their  death.  In  such  a  case  what 
do  they  do?  They  retrace  their  steps  and  carry  on 
a  guerilla  warfare  on  less  dangerous  ground. 

This  is  all  very  well  in  military  affairs ;  but  in  the 
order  of  ideas  it  appears  difficult  to  reconcile  this 
kind  of  prudence  with  entire  sincerity  of  belief.  It 
supposes  a  vague  disquietude  as  to  the  value  of  oul 
own  line  of  argument,  and  a  vague  presentiment  of 


LADY  0V  LOUEDE8. 

the  absolute  certainty  of  the  things  we  are  opposing. 
To  fear  to  face  the  investigation  of  any  fact,  the  ex- 
istence of  which  would  lead  to  the  entire  overthrow 
of  such  or  such  a  doctrine,  is  to  declare  ourselves 
that  we  have  internal  doubts  of  what  we  assert  so 
boldly ;  it  is  to  show  that  we  fear  the  truth  to  be 
known ;  it  is  to  take  to  flight  without  attempting 
the  struggle  and  to  tremble  at  the  approach  of 
light. 

Such  were  the  reflections  that  occurred  to  the 
strongest  minds  in  the  place  on  perceiving  this  re- 
treat and  withdrawal  of  actual  hostilities  in  presence 
of  the  events  which  were  occurring. 

Incredulity  ought  to  have  been  convinced,  but 
such  was  not  the  case.  It  was  only  disconcerted 
and  overwhelmed  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  by 
the  evidence  adduced  and  by  the  sudden  invasion 
of  the  Supernatural.  Those  know  but  little  of  the 
human  heart  who  think  that  the  most  conclusive 
and  indubitable  proofs  are  sufficient  to  bring  men, 
who  have  already  made  up  their  mind,  to  a  humble 
acknowledgment  of  their  error.  The  free-will  of 
man  has  the  terrible  power  of  resisting  every  thing 
— even  God  Himself. 

It  is  in  vain  that  the  Sun  gives  light  to  the  world 
and  illuminates  the  infinite  space  in  which  the  globes 
of  or::  universe  pursue  their  course :  we  have  only 
tc  shut  our  eyes  in  order  to  resist  his  omnipotence 
and  to  extinguish  his  very  being.  The  soul  also  as 
well  as  the  body  may  in  the  same  manner  shut  its 
senses  to  the  light  of  truth.  The  darkness  does  not 
proceed  from  the  weakness  of  the  understanding : 
it  is  the  result  of  an  act  of  the  will,  which  persist! 
and  takes  pleasure  in  its  self-imposed  blindness. 
7* 


OUR  LADY  Of  LOUJWES.  205 

However,  in  matters  of  this  kind,  men  feel  the 
necessity  of  a  certain  amount  of  self-deception,  and 
to  quiet  their  consciences  are  obliged  to  keep  up 
the  show  of  sincerity.  They  have  not  sufficient  de- 
termination to  deny  or  to  oppose  resolutely  and 
face  to  face  what  is  plainly  acknowledged  to  be 
truth.  What  then  is  their  line  of  conduct  ?  They 
make  it  their  study  to  remain  in  a  kind  of  obscurity, 
which  permits  them  to  struggle  against  truth  with- 
out seeing  clearly,  and  which  serves  them  in  some 
measure  as  an  excuse.  Forgetting  that  ignorance, 
when  voluntary,  does  not  remove  responsibility, 
they  reserve  to  themselves  the  right  of  replying : 
"  Nay,  Lord,  I  was  ignorant,"  and  for  this  reason 
they  make  up  their  minds  to  deny  every  thing,  and 
limit  themselves  to  shrugging  their  shoulders  with- 
out caring  or  wishing  to  take  the  trouble  of  getting 
to  the  bottom  of  things.  The  contempt  which  they 
affect  outside  is  but  the  hypocrisy  of  the  fear  they 
experience  within. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  incredulous,  brought  face  to 
face  with  the  supernatural  cures  which  were  being 
effected  on  all  sides,  refused  to  give  themselves  the 
trouble  of  examination,  and  dared  not  hazard  inves- 
tigation. Notwithstanding  the  challenges  issued 
to  them  and  the  railleries  of  those  who  believed, 
they  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  whatever  tended  to  pro- 
duce a  public  debate  on  these  miraculous  cures. 
They  affected  not  to  busy  themselves  with  the  di- 
vine  phenomena  which  were  submitted  to  their 
senses,  which  were  notorious,  which  claimed  uni- 
versal attention  and  might  have  been  easily  studied, 
continuing  to  produce  theories  on  hallucinations — a 
vague  and  mist-clad  region,  in  which  they  might 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDE8. 

talk  and  declaim  at  their  ease,  without  being  felled 
by  the  stubbornness  of  facts  which  were  palpable, 
manifest  and  impossible  to  gainsay. 

The  supernatural,  therefore,  courted  discussion, 
and  that  to  the  furthest  extent.  The  Free-thinkers 
declined  the  challenge  and  beat  a  retreat.  By  so 
doing  they  acknowledged  their  own  discomfiture 
and  condemnation. 


XL 


THE  philosophers  ot  unbelief,  irritated  by  these 
events  they  appeared  to  despise,  and  in  regard  to 
which  they  dared  not  risk  the  decisive  proof  of  a 
public  investigation,  sought  other  means  of  ridding 
themselves  of  such  stubborn  facts.  They  had  recourse 
to  a  manoeuvre  which  in  its  extreme  cleverness  and 
:iiachiavelic  type  showed  all  the  resources  of  intel- 
ect  which  hatred  of  the  Supernatural  induced  the 
cluster  of  Free-thinkers  to  employ.  Instead  of  in- 
vestigating the  miracles  which  were  really  true, 
they  invented  false  ones,  reserving  to  themselves 
the  right  of  exposing  the  imposture  at  a  later  pe- 
riod. Their  journals  made  nc  •mention,  either  of 
Louis  Bourriette,  or  of  the  child  of  Croisine  Du- 
couts,  or  of  Blaise  Maumus,  or  of  the  widow  Cro- 
zat,  or  of  Marie  Daube,  or  of  Bernarde  Soubie,  or 
of  Fabien  Baron,  or  of  Jean  Crassus,  or  of  Augusta 
Borde,  or  in  fact  of  hundreds  of  others.  But  they 
treacherously  fabricated  an  imaginary  legend,  hop. 
ing  to  propagate  it  by  means  of  the  press,  and  re* 
fate  it  at  their  ease  later  on. 

This  assertion  tnay  appear  strange,  but  we  assert 
nothing  without  having  the  proofs  in  our  hands. 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDES.  207 

"  Do  not  be  astonished,"  observed  the  journal  of 
the  Prefecture,  the  fire  Imp'eriale,  "if  there  are 
still  to  be  found  persons  who  persist  in  maintain- 
ing that  the  young  girl  is  predestinated  and  en- 
dowed with  supernatural  power.  For  them  it  is  af- 
firmed, 

"  i.  That  a  dove  hovered  the  day  before  yesterday 
over  the  head  of  the  child  during  the  time  her  state 
of  ecstacy  lasted. 

"  2.  That  the  young  girl  has  breathed  on  the  eyes 
of  a  little  blind  child  and  restored  her  sight. 

"  3.  That  she  has  cured  another  child  whose  arn 
was  paralyzed. 

"  4.  Lastly,  that  a  peasant  from  the  valley  of  Cam- 
pan,  having  declared  that  he  was  not  the  dupe  of 
these  scenes  of  hallucination,  the  little  girl  had  the 
same  evening  procured  his  fish  to  be  turned  into 
snakes,  which  snakes  devoured  this  irreverential 
man,  leaving  no  trace  of  his  bones." 

As  to  the  real  cures,  the  miracles  fully  authenti- 
cated, and  the  bursting  forth  of  the  fountain,  the 
crafty  editor  took  good  care  not  to  mention  them. 
With  no  less  art,  he  did  not  give  any  names,  in 
order  to  avoid  being  contradicted. 

"  Such  is  the  present  state  of  things,  and  all  this 
might  have  been  obviated  at  Lourdes  if  the  parents 
of  the  girl  had  followed  the  advice  of  the  medical 
men  and  sent  her  to  the  hospital." 

We  may  remark  that  none  of  the  medical  men 
nad  up  to  that  time  offered  advice  of  the  kind. 

After  having  invented  these  fables,  the  pious  and 
judicious  writer  sounded  the  alarm  in  the  name  of 
rrason  and  the  fait> 


208  OUR  LAD7   OF  LOURDE8. 

"  Such  is  the  opinion,"  he  continued,  "  of  all  rea 
sonable  people,  who  are  actuated  by  feelipgs  of  rea 
piety,  who  have  a  real  love  and  respect  fo~  religion, 
who  look  upon  the  mania  of  superstition  as  highly 
dangerous,  and  who  hold  fast  to  the  pry  ciple  that 
the  Church  alone  is  competent  to  pronou  >ce  on  the 
genuineness  of  miraculous  facts." 

The  remarkable  diplomacy  which  ha  1  dictated 
these  articles,  was  worthily  crowned  by '  lis  devout 
ebullition  of  faith  and  this  closing  g-  muflexion. 
Such  are  the  ordinary  formularies  of  aP  those  who 
would  reduce  to  the  confined  limits  o'  their  own 
systems  the  position  which  it  pleases  Go '  to  occup) 
in  this  nether  world.  As  regards  the  *ist  affirma 
tion  propounded  as  a  principle,  when  miraculous 
facts  are  in  question,  is  it  necessary  to  s  y  that  they 
command  respect  or  not,  according  tr  their  own 
merits,  as  indeed  do  all  facts,  and  derive  their  pe- 
culiar character,  not  from  the  Church,  by  which 
they  are  only  recognized,  but  from  (rod  himself, 
by  whose  power  they  are  directly  prodrced  ?  The 
decision  of  the  Church  does  not  create  a  miracle, 
it  only  authenticates  it,  and  on  her  authcntative  ex- 
amination and  affirmation  the  faithful  be!:eve.  But 
no  law,  either  as  regards  faith  or  reasor  orevents 
Christians,  who  are  witnesses  of  a  fact  plain1  y  super- 
natural,  from  recognizing,  of  their  own  accord,  its 
miraculous  character.  Such  an  abdication  o*  their 
reason  and  common  sense  has  never  been  ejected 
from  believers  by  the  Church.  She  only  reserves 
to  herself  the  right  of  judging  without  appeal  in 
the  last  resort. 

"  It  does  not  appear  up  to  the  presen*  moment," 
were  the  closing  words  of  the  article,  "that  tho 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  209 

religious  authorities  have  thought  what  is  going  un 
worthy  of  any  serious  attention." 

On  this  last  point,  the  editor  of  the  journal  which 
supported  the  views  of  the  Administration  was  in 
error,  as  our  readers  have  already  learned  in  the 
course  of  this  narration.  However,  this  observa- 
tion of  his — and  in  this  respect  at  least  it  was  of 
great  value — proved  for  futurity  and  for  History 
that  the  Clergy  had  been  entire  strangers  to  the 
events  which  had  taken  place  up  to  that  moment, 
and  that  those  events  were  continuing  to  take  place 
without  the  slightest  connivance  on  their  part. 

The  poor  Lavedan,  the  local  organ  of  Lourdes, 
though  placed  in  the  very  centre  of  all  that  was  oc- 
curring, felt  itself  crushed  by  the  stubbornness  of 
facts,  and  had  all  at  once  subsided  into  absolute  si 
lence.  This  silence  was  destined  to  endure  for  sev 
eral  weeks.  It  never  alluded  in  the  most  distant 
manner  to  these  events,  so  unheard  of  in  their  na- 
ture, or  to  the  immense  concourse  of  people  they 
attracted.  You  would  have  thought  it  was  pub- 
lished for  the  benefit  of  readers  in  some  other  quar- 
ter of  the  globe,  had  not  its  columns  been  filled 
with  articles  borrowed  in  all  directions  from  the 
public  prints  and  directed  against  Superstition  in 
general. 

XII. 

DURING  the  period  of  the  manifestation  of  the 
Apparitions,  the  popular  movement  had  been  favor- 
ed with  the  most  magnificent  weather.  There  had 
been  an  uninterrupted  series  of  fine  days,  such  as 
had  not  been  experienced  for  many  years  past 


210  OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDES. 

From  the  fifth  of  March,  there  was  a  change  in  the 
weather  and  a  heavy  fall  of  snow.  The  severity 
of  the  season  naturally  abated  for  some  days  the 
concourse  of  visitors  to  the  Grotto. 

The  miraculous  cures,  however,  increased  in 
number.  Benoite  Cazeaux,  a  most  respectable  in- 
habitant of  Lourdes,  had  been  confined  to  her  bed 
for  three  years  by  a  slow  fever  accompanied  with 
pains  in  her  side,  and  all  her  applications  to  the 
medical  men  of  the  place  had  been  fruitless.  A 
course  of  baths  at  Gazost  had  proved  equally  un 
availing  towards  the  recovery  of  her  health. 

The  medical  men  had  become  disheartened  by 
the  unsuccessful  issue  of  all  their  efforts,  and  had 
ceased  to  visit  the  poor  woman,  regarding  her  as 
incurable.  Finding  herself  in  this  desperate  situ- 
ation, she  had  had  recourse  to  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes, 
and  her  supposed  incurable  malady  had  suddenly 
disappeared  in  consequence  of  drinking  one  or  two 
glasses  of  water  from  the  Grotto,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  some  lotions. 

Anotaer  woman,  Blaisette  Soupenne,  of  Lourdes, 
about  fifty  years  of  age,  had  been  suffering  for  sev- 
eral years  from  a  chronic  affection  in  her  eyes,  and 
her  state  was  truly  pitiable.  In  technical  terms,  it 
was  a  Blepharitis  accompanied  with  atrophy.  A 
continual  flow  of  tears  from  the  eyes,  severe  smart- 
ing pains  sometimes  at  the  same  time,  sometimes 
alternately  *  an  evers'on  of  the  eyelids  and  total  dis- 
appearance of  the  eye-lashes,  the  two  lower  lids 
oeing  covered  with  a  multitude  of  fleshy  warts — 
such  was  the  disastrous  state  of  this  unfortunate 
woman.  It  was  in  vain  she  applied  lot  ons  of  cold 
water  sever  il  times  a  day  to  her  eyes,  employed  aL1 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  211 

the  remedies  prescribed  by  her  medical  advisers,  or 
sought  some  relief  at  the  baths  of  Bareges,  Cauta- 
rets  and  Gazost — everything  had  been  a  failure. 
Abandoned  by  man,  she  had  turned  herself  towards 
the  Divine  Goodness  which  had  manifested  itself 
at  the  Grotto.  Pronounced  incurable  by  medical 
science,  she  had  addressed  herself  to  Faith,  and  had 
besought  the  miraculous  Lady  to  remove  from  her 
that  cruel  malady  which  had  defied  the  skill  of  men 
and  the  agency  of  natural  remedies.  She  received 
great  relief  on  the  application  of  the  first  lotion. 
At  the  second  application,  which  took  place  the 
following  day,  the  cure  was  complete.  Tears 
ceased  to  flow  from  her  eyes,  the  eyelids  resumed 
their  natural  form,  and  the  fleshy  warts  disap- 
peared. From  that  very  day  the  eye-lashes  grew 
again. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  medical  men  called  in  to 
examine  the  above  case,  the  supernatural  effect  in 
this  marvelous  cure  was  rendered  more  obvious 
from  the  fact  "  that  the  material  injury,"  they  said, 
"  was  more  striking,  and  that  to  the  rapid  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  tissues  in  their  normal  and  organic 
condition,  was  added  the  restoration  of  the  eyelids 
to  their  original  form  and  position.  The  import^ 
ance  of  this  fact  is  so  much  the  greater  as  the 
malady  in  question  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to 
treat  successfully,  and  in  the  stage  it  had  reached 
in  the  case  of  Blaisette  Soupenne,  necessitated  a 
surgical  operation,  such  as  the  excision  of  the  pal- 
p'ibral  mucous  membrane,  or  at  least  a  severe  cau 
terization  of  the  swellings  and  fleshy  pimples  of 
that  membrane." 

These  wonderful  events  increased  daily  in  num 


212  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

her.  God  proceeded  in  His  work.  The  Blessed 
Virgin  afforded  ample  display  of  her  omnipo- 
tence. 

XIV. 

SINCE  the  last  day  of  the  Quinzaine,  Bernadetto 
had  several  times  re-visited  the  Grotto,  but  much 
like  any  other  simple  individual,  that  is  to  say, 
without  hearing-  in  her  heart  the  irresistible  voice 
which  was  wont  to  summon  her  to  the  spot. 

She  heard  this  voice,  however,  once  more  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  March,  in  the  course  of  the  morning 
and  immediately  proceeded  towards  the  Rocks  ot 
Massabielle.  Her  countenance  was  beaming-  with 
hope.  She  felt  within  herself  that  she  was  going  to 
see  the  Apparition  once  more,  and  that  Paradise 
would  throw  its  eternal  gates  half  open  to  her  rav- 
ished eyes. 

It  may  be  easily  conceived  that  she  had  become 
ere  this  an  object  of  general  attention  at  Lourdes, 
and  she  could  not  take  a  step  without  becoming 
"  the  observed  of  all  observers." 

"  Bernadette  is  going  to  the  Grotto,"  was  the 
observation  of  the  one  to  the  other  as  she  was  seen 
passing  by. 

A  moment  afterwards,  a  crowd,  issuing  from  all 
the  houses  and  collecting  from  all  the  alleys,  rushed 
in  the  same  direction  and  reached  the  Grotto  at  the 
same  time  with  the  child. 

In  the  valley,  the  snow  had  melted  within  the  last 
two  or  three  days,  but  still  remained  on  the  cresta 
of  the  neighboring  peaks.  The  weather  was  fine 
and  clear,  and  not  a  speck  was  to  be  seen  in  the 


OUR  LAD7  OF  LOUEDE8.  313 

blue  of  the  firmament.  The  sun  seemed  to 
rise  with  royal  pomp  from  the  bosom  oi  the  white 
mountains  and  threw  a  splendcr  over  his  cradle  of 
snow. 

It  was  the  anniversary  of  the  day  on  which  the 
Angel  Gabriel  had  descended  to  the  purest  of  vir 
gins,  the  Virgin  of  Nazareth,  and  had  saluted  her 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The  Church  was  cele- 
brating the  feast  of  the  Annunciation. 

While  the  crowd  was  hurrying  to  the  Grotto,  and 
amongst  it  might  be  noticed  the  greater  number  of 
those  who  had  been  cured — Louis  Bourriette,  the 
widow  Crouzat,  Blaisette  Soupenne,  Benoite  Ca- 
zeaux,  Auguste  Bordes,  and  twenty  more,  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  at  the  close  of  her  morning  office,  was 
intoning  those  wonderful  words,  "  At  that  moment 
shall  the  eyes  of  the  blind  be  opened,  the  ears  of  the 
deaf  shall  recover  their  hearing,  the  lame  shall  leap 
like  the  deer,  for  the  waters  have  burst  forth  in  the 
desert,  and  torrents  in  the  wilderness." 

Bernadette  had  not  been  deceived  by  the  joyful 
presentiment  she  had  felt.  The  voice  which  had 
called  her  was  the  voice  of  the  faithful  Virgin. 

As  soon  as  the  child  had  fallen  on  her  knees  the 
Apparition  made  herself  manifest.  As  ever  before, 
an  ineffable  aureole  beamed  around  her,  of  bound- 
less splendor  and  infinite  sweetness  ;  it  was  like  the 
eternal  glory  of  absolute  peace.  As  ever  before,  hei 
veil  and  her  robe  falling  in  chaste  folds  were  white 
like  the  glistening  snow.  The  two  roses  which 
blossomed  on  her  feet  had  the  yellow  tinge  which 
pervades  the  base  of  /leaven  at  the  first  light  of  the 
virgin  dawn.  Her  girdle  was  blue  as  the  azure 
firmament. 


214  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

Beniadette,  plunged  in  ecstacy,  had  forgottet 
earth  in  the  presence  of  her  spotless  beauty. 

"  O  Lady,'  she  said  to  her,  "  would  you  have  the 
goodness  to  inform  me  who  you  are  and  what  s 
your  name?" 

The  queenly  Apparition  smiled  but  gave  no  reply 
But  at  that  very  moment,  the  Universal  Church 
proceeding  with  the  solemn  prayers  of  her  Office : 
was  exclaiming: 

"  O  holy  and  immaculate  Virginity,  what  praises 
can  I  give  unto  Thee?  In  truth,  I  know  not,  for 
thou  hast  borne  in  thy  womb  Him  whom  the 
Heavens  cannot  contain." 

Bernadette  heard  not  these  distant  voices,  nor 
could  she  surmise  these  profound  harmonies.  Not- 
withstanding the  silence  on  the  part  of  the  Vision, 
she  urged  her  request,  and  repeated  : 

"  O  Lady,  would  you  have  the  kindness  to  inform 
me  who  you  are  and  what  is  your  name  ?  " 

The  Apparition  appeared  to  become  more  radi- 
ant, as  if  her  joy  kept  increasing,  and  yet  she  did 
not  reply  to  the  child's  question.  But  the  Church, 
spread  over  the  whole  of  Christendom,  was  con- 
tinuing her  prayers  and  chaunts  and  had  reached 
those  words : 

"  Wish  me  joy,  all  ye  who  love  the  Lord,  foi 
when  I  was  yet  a  child,  the  Most  High  hath  lovec 
me,  and  from  my  womb  was  produced  the  God- 
Man.  All  generations  shall  proclaim  me  Blessed, 
for  God  hath  deigned  to  regard  the  lowliness  of  his 
hand-maiden;  and  from  my  womb  was  produced 
the  God-Man." 

Bernadette  redoubled  the  urgency  of  >er  request 
and  pronounced  for  the  third  time  the  words: 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  215 

"  O  Lady,  would  you  have  the  kindness  to  inform 
me  who  you  are  and  what  is  your  name  ?  " 

The  Apparition  appeared  to  enter  more  and  more 
into  the  glory  of  beatitude,  and  as  if  absorbed  in 
her  own  felicity,  continued  to  return  no  answer. 
But,  by  an  extraordinary  coincidence  the  universa 
choir  of  the  Church  was  at  that  moment  bursting 
forth  into  a  song  of  jov  and  pronouncing  the  earthb 
name  of  the  marvelous  Apparition,  "  Hail  Mary 
full  of  Grace,  the  Lord  is  with  Thee,  blessed  an 
Thou  among  women." 

Bernadette  pronounced  once  more  these  suppliant 
words : 

"  O  Lady,  I  beseech  you,  have  the  kindness  to 
\nform  me  who  you  are  and  what  is  your  name  ?  " 

The  hands  of  the  Apparition  were  clasped  with 
fervor  and  her  countenance  was  radiant  with  the 
splendors  of  infinite  beatitude.  It  was  Humility 
crowned  with  Glory.  At  the  same  time  that  Ber- 
aadette  was  contemplating  the  Vision,  the  Vision 
was  doubtless  contemplating,  in  the  bosom  of  the 
divine  Trinity,  God  the  Father  of  whom  She  was 
the  daughter,  God  the  Holy  Ghost  of  whom  She 
was  the  Spouse,  and  God  the  Son  of  whom  She  was 
the  Mother. 

At  the  last  question  of  the  child  She  unclasped 
her  hands,  slipping  over  Her  right  arm  the  chaplet, 
whose  alabaster  beads  were  strung  on  a  golden 
thread.  She  then  opened  both  of  Her  arms  and 
bent  them  towards  the  ground,  as  if  to  show  to  the 
earth  Her  Virgin  hands,  full  of  blessings.  After- 
wards, raising  them  towards  the  eternal  region, 
from  which  on  that  very  day  centuries  before  the 
divine  Messenger  of  the  Annunciation  had  de 


2l6  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

scended,  She  joined  them  again  fervently,  and  gazing 
up  to  Heaven  with  an  expression  of  unspeakable 
gratitude,  she  pronounced  the  following  words : 

"  I  am  the  Immaculate  Conception." 

Thus  saying,  She  disappeared,  and  the  child,  likfl 
the  multitude,  found  herself  opposite  a  solitary 
rock. 

At  her  side,  the  miraculous  Fountain,  falling 
through  its  wooden  conduit  into  its  rustic  basin, 
soothed  the  ear  with  the  peaceful  murmur  of  its 
waters. 

It  was  the  day  and  the  hour,  when  Holy  Church 
was  intoning  in  her  Office  the  magnificent  hymn, — 
"  O  most  glorious  of  Virgins." 

O  Gloriosa  Virgmum, 
Sublimis  inter  sidera. 

XIV. 

THE  Mother  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  not 
said, — "  I  am  Mary,  the  Immaculate ;  She  had  said, 
— "  I  am  the  Immaculate  Conception,"  as  if  to  mark 
the  absolute,  and,  as  it  were,  substantial  character 
of  the  divine  privilege  granted  to  Her  alone  since 
Adam  and  Eve  were  created  by  God.  It  is  as  if 
she  had  said,  not,  "  I  am  pure,"  but,  "  I  am  purity 
itself ;  "  not,  "  I  am  a  Virgin,"  but,  "  I  am  the  in- 
carnate and  living  Virginity ; "  not,  "  I  am  white,' 
but,  "  I  am  whiteness !" 

Any  thing  that  is  white  may  cease  to  be  so ;  but, 
Whiteness  is  always  white.  It  is  its  essence  and  not 
its  quality. 

Mary  is  more  than  conceived  without  sin :  She  is 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

the  Immaculate  Conception  itself ;  the  essential  and 
superior  type  ;  the  archetype  of  unsullied  humanity 
of  humanity  as  it  proceeded  from  the  hands  of  God 
without  having  been  tainted  by  the  original  stain 
by  the  impure  element  which  the  fault  of  our  first 
Parents  mixed  with  the  very  source  of  that  vast 
river  of  generations,  which  has  flowed  for  the  last 
six  thousand  years,  and  of  which,  each  of  us,  is  a 
fleeting  wave. 

What  would  you  do,  if  you  wished  to  draw  wa- 
ter pure  from  a  muddy  spring  ?  You  would  pass 
it  through  a  filter,  and  the  water  clears  itself  of  its 
grosser  elements.  You  then  pass  it  through  a  sec- 
ond filter,  then  through  a  third,  and  so  on.  The 
time  soon  comes  when  the  water  becomes  entirely 
pure  and  clear, — a  liquid  diamond.  In  the  same 
manner  did  God  act,  when  the  original  Spring  was 
troubled.  He  chose  a  particular  family  in  this 
world,  and  watched  over  it  from  age  to  age,  from 
Seth  unto  Noah,  from  Shem  unto  David,  from  Da- 
vid even  unto  Joachim  and  Anne,  the  parents  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  And,  when  this  human  blood 
was  thus  filtered,  so  to  speak,  in  spite  of  the  acci- 
dents of  some  intermediate  guilty  persons,  through 
nearly  fifty  generations  of  patriarchs  and  just  men, 
there  came  into  the  world  a  creature  absolutely 
pure ;  a  creature  without  stain ;  a  daughter  of  Adam 
entirely  immaculate.  She  was  called  Mary,  and 
Her  fruitful  Virginity  produced  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Virgin,  at  that  moment,  had  desired  to  attest 
by  her  presence  and  her  miracles,  the  last  dogma 
defined  by  the  Church,  and  proclaimed  by  St.  Pe- 
ter, speaking  by  the  voice  of  Pius  IX. 

It  was  the  first  time  in  her  life  that  the  little  shep. 
10 


2ig  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUIiDES 

herd-girl,  to  whom  the  divine  Virgin  had  just  ap- 
peared, had  heard  the  words :  "  Immaculate  Con- 
ception ; "  and,  being  entirely  ignorant  of  their 
meaning,  she  exerted  herself  to  the  utmost  on  hef 
way  back  to  Lourdes  to  retain  them  in  her  memory. 
"  I  repeated  them  to  myself  all  along  the  road,  in 
order  not  to  forget  them,"  she  told  us,  one  day; 
'and,  up  to  the  very  door  of  the  presbytery  to 
which  I  was  going,  I  kept  saying,  Immaculate  Con- 
ception,  Immaculate  Conception,  at  each  step  I  made, 
as  I  wished  to  take  to  the  Cure  the  exact  words  of 
the  Vision,  in  order  that  the  chapel  might  be  built" 


FIFTH  BOOK. 
1. 

ri  iHE  question  which  had  mounted  from  M.  Ja- 

JL    comet  to  the  Prefect  had  continued  its  upward 

flight,  and  reached  the  Ministry  of  Public  Worship. 

On  the  1 2th  and  26th  of  March,  the  Prefect  had 
sent  in  his  reports  to  his  Excellency,  confining  him- 
self, until  an  answer  was  received,  to  the  steps  we 
have  already  mentioned. 

The  Ministry  of  Public  Worship  was  not  then,  as 
is  the  case  now,  united  to  the  department  of  Jus 
tice,  but  to  that  of  Public  Instruction.  Monsieur 
Rouland  was  the  Minister. 

Formerly  Procureur  General,  and  at  the  date  of  our 
story,  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  M.  Rouland 
had,  atone  and  the  same  time,  in  regard  to  religious 
matters,  the  traditional  and  suspicious  formalism 
of  the  old  parliamentary  body,  and  the  ideas  and 
feelings  current  in  the  University  of  France.  Of  a 
dogmatic  turn  of  mind,  deeply  convinced  of  his  own 
importance,  his  very  philosophy  tinged  with  sectar 
ianism,  an  extravagant  admirer  of  his  own  wisdom, 
and  easily  irritated  against  any  thing  which  did  not 
square  with  his  own  systematic  ideas,  M.  Rouland 
was  unable  to  admit  for  one  moment  the  reality  of 


220  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

the  Visions  and  Miracles  at  Lourdes.  Such  being 
the  case,  though  at  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  leagues  from  the  spot  where  the  events  occur- 
red, and  having  no  other  documents  than  two  let- 
ters received  from  the  Prefect,  he  solved  the  ques- 
tion with  that  decisive  tone  which  settles  matters 
of  importance  without  even  condescending  to  dis- 
cuss them.  Notwithstanding  the  advice  he  gave 
the  Prefect  to  act  prudently,  it  was  plain  that  he 
had  decided  in  his  own  mind  not  to  tolerate  either 
the  Apparitions  or  the  Miracles.  As  was  always 
the  case,  in  similar  circumstances,  the  Minister  as- 
sumed the  attitude  of  a  defender  of  the  interests  of 
religion.  We  subjoin  a  copy  of  the  letter  written 
oy  him  to  M.  Massy,  bearing  date  the  twelfth  of 
April. 

"MONSIEUR  LE  PREFET: 

"  I  have  examined  the  reports,  which  you  had 
the  goodness  to  forward  to  me  on  the  twelfth  and 
twenty-sixth  of  April,  on  the  subject  of  a  pretended 
apparition  of  the  Virgin,  said  to  have  occurred  in  a 
Grotto  at  no  great  distance  from  the  town  of  Lourdes. 
It  is  of  importance,  in  my  opinion,  to  put  a  stop  to 
proceedings  which  would  result  in  compromising 
the  true  interests  of  Catholicism,  and  weakening 
the  religious  feeling  of  the  population  of  the  dis- 
trict. 

"  Legally,  no  one  can  establish  an  oratory  or  place  oj 
public  worship,  without  the  double  authorization  of  tJu 
civil  and  religious  authorities.  We  should  then  be 
justified,  were  we  to  carry  out  the  law  rigorously, 
in  immediately  closing  the  Grotto,  which  has  been 
transformed  into  a  kind  of  chapel. 


OUS  LADY  OF  ^^      DJK8.  221 

"  But,  serious  inconveniences  would,  in  all  prob- 
ability, arise  from  putting  this  law  suddenly  into 
force.  It  would,  therefore,  be  better  to  confine  our- 
selves to  preventing  the  youthful  visionary  from  re- 
visiting the  Grotto,  and  to  taking  such  measures  as 
shall  insensibly  divert  public  attention,  by  rendering 
the  visits  to  the  spot  less  frequent  from  day  to  day.  I 
could  not,  however,  Monsieur  le  Prefet,  give  you 
more  precise  instructions  at  the  present  moment :  it 
is  a  question  which  requires  most  especially  tact, 
prudence  and  firmness,  and,  in  this  respect,  any  re- 
commendations from  me  are  unnecessary. 

"  It  will  be  indispensable  for  you  to  act  in  concert 
with  the  Clergy ;  and  I  cannot  lay  too  much  stress 
on  the  advisability  of  your  communicating,  person- 
ally,  with  the  Bishop  of  Tarbes  in  this  delicate  af- 
fair, and  I  authorize  you  to  tell  the  Prelate,  from 
me,  that  I  do  not  think  it  expedient  to  permit  a  state 
of  things  to  continue  unchecked,  which  cannot  fail  of 
affording  a  pretext  for  fresh  attacks  on  the  Clergy  and 
Religion" 

II. 

ON  the  strength  of  this  letter,  M.  Massy  address- 
ed himself  to  the  Bishop,  begging  him,  formally,  to 
prohibit  Bernadette  from  repairing  in  future  to  the 
Grotto.  He  naturally  brought  forward  the  inter- 
ests of  religion,  which  were  compromised  by  these 
hallucinations  or  deceptions,  and  the  deplorable  ef- 
fect which  things  of  this  nature  were  producing  on 
all  serious  minds,  which  sincerely  sought  to  recon 
cile  Catholicism  with  sound  philosophy  and  modern 
ideas.  As  to  the  supposition  of  there  being  any  re- 


J22  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ality  in  the  Apparitions,  M.  Massy,  following  in  the 
wake  of  M.  Rouland,  did  not  deign  to  notice  it. 
The  Prefect  and  the  Minister  agreed  in  treating 
such  superstitions  with  contempt. 

The  Prefect  was  clever,  but  the  Bishop  in  his  turn 
was  shrewd,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  pass  off  on  him 
the  shadow  for  the  substance.  Monseigneur  Lau- 
rence discerned,  clearly,  two  things : 

The  first  was,  that  the  Authorities  (and,  by  this 
word,  we  understood  only  the  Prefect  and  the  Min- 
ister, who  happened  to  be  in  power  for  the  time 
being),  would  have  been  very  glad  to  have  put  the 
Clergy  prominently  forward,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  they  dictated  to  them  their  course  of  action. 
Now,  Monseigneur  Laurence  had  too  high  a  sense 
of  his  duties  as  Bishop  to  become  a  mere  tool  in  the 
hands  of  others. 

The  second  was,  that  the  Minister  possibly  and 
the  Prefect  certainly  were  tempted  to  have  recourse 
to  violent  measures,  that  is  to  say,  to  oppose  ma- 
terial force  to  opinion.  Now,  Monseigneur  Lau- 
rence was  too  prudent  not  to  exert  every  effort  in 
order  to  avoid  an  evil  of  such  magnitude. 

It  was  necessary  therefore  for  him,  on  the  one 
hand  to  resist  energetically  the  pressure  brought  to 
bear  upon  him  by  the  Civil  Authorities,  and  on  the 
other  not  to  irritate  them  ;  to  reject  their  unreason- 
able demands  as  inadmissible,  and  at  the  same  time 
o  maintain  a  spirit  of  harmony. 

Amidst  these  difficulties  of  so  opposite  a  nature 
he  Bishop  succeeded  in  steering  a  middle  course. 

At  the  same  time  that  he  stemmed  the  popular 
enthusiasm  which  urged  him  to  proclaim  the  Mir- 
acle officially,  he  resisted  the  Minister  and  the  Pre- 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDES.  223 

feet,  who  requested  him  to  condemn  it  without  in- 
vestigation. Impassible  in  the  midst  of  the  agita. 
tions  of  the  multitude,  and  the  blind  prejudices  of 
men  in  power,  he  was  determined  not  to  pronounce 
his  judgment  until  he  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  merits  of  the  case,  to  refrain  from  any  pre- 
mature decision  and  to  keep  the  future  in  reserve. 
However,  perceiving  as  he  did,  the  undisguisedly 
hostile  disposition  of  the  Administration,  he  recog- 
nized it  to  be  his  duty  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  pre- 
vent the  Civil  Authorities  from  betaking  themselves 
to  deplorable  acts  of  violence.  They  must  be  de- 
prived of  all  pretext  for  adopting  such  a  line  of  con- 
duct. Since  the  Temporal  Power  inclined  towards 
inconsiderate  measures,  the  Spiritual  Power  must 
have  prudence  for  both.  Since  the  Prefect  had 
not  prudence  enough,  the  Bishop  must  have  it  in 
excess :  it  was  in  his  opinion,  the  only  way  of 
having  enough. 

III. 

MONSEIGNEUR  Laurence,  as  we  have  already  ob- 
served, was  still  in  a  state  of  doubt  as  to  the  judg- 
ment he  should  form  on  the  events  which  had 
occurred  at  Lourdes.  Not  being  on  the  spot,  not 
gteing  directly  the  marvels  which  were  in  process 
of  accomplishment,  and  deriving  what  little  knowl- 
edge he  had  of  them  from  the  reports  of  ecclesias- 
tics who  had  not  themselves  been  eye-witnesses  of 
the  facts,  he  had  not  yet  come  to  any  full  convic- 
tion. He  was  waiting. 

Under  these  circumstances,  to  formally  prohibit 
Bernadette  from  going  to  the  Grotto  when  she 


224  OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDEB. 

felt  herself  called  to  the  place  by  a  voice  from  oa 
high,  would  have  been  to  attacK  the  nost  sacred 
liberty  the  soul  can  enjoy,  and  this,  Churchmen 
can  respect  even  in  a  child :  but  to  employ  words 
of  council  and  to  pledge  Bernadette  not  to  repair 
to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  unless  under  the  im- 
mediate influence  of  that  irresistible  suggestion, 
this  was  what  the  Bishop  deemed  it  prudent  to 
order  the  Cur6  of  Lourdes  to  undertake,  in  order 
to  prevent,  as  far  as  lay  in  his  power,  the  Civil 
Authorities  from  entering  on  the  dangerous  path 
of  persecution,  to  which  his  admirable  foresight 
shewed  him  they  were  tending. 

What  in  reality  held  the  Prefect  back,  was  not  so 
much  a  question  of  principle  as  a  personal  con- 
sideration. He  felt  he  must  look  twice  before 
attempting  a  religious  coup  d'etat  with  a  Prelate 
so  universally  venerated  as  Monseigneur  Lau- 
rence, more  especially  after  having  lived  with 
him  up  to  that  moment  in  the  most  perfect  har- 
mony. Baron  Massy  was  too  deeply  imbued  with 
the  political  feeling  of  the  affairs  of  administration 
not  to  hesitate  in  breaking  up  this  feeling  of  cor- 
diality, and  in  violently  invading  a  jurisdiction 
which  belonged  of  right  to  the  Bishop,  and  to  him 
only. 

IV. 

EASTER-SUNDAY  had  arrived.  Notwithstanding 
the  pious  apprehensions  of  the  Minister  of  Public 
Worship,  the  marvelous  occurrences  at  Lourdes 
nad  not  "  weakened  the  religious  feeling  of  the 
populat:on  of  the  district."  Numberless  conver 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  22$ 

sions  had  taken  place,  and  the  confessionals  were  in 
a  state  of  siege.  Usurers  and  robbers  had  made 
restitution  of  their  ill-gotten  gains,  and  many  scan- 
dals had  ceased.  The  Faithful  crowded  to  the 
Holy  Table. 

On  Easter-Monday,  the  fifth  of  April,  that  is  to 
say  the  very  day  the  Prefect  had  visited  the  Bishop, 
the  Mother  of  God  had  once  more  by  an  internal 
call,  summoned  the  daughter  of  the  miller,  and  the 
child,  soon  followed  by  an  immense  crowd,  had  re- 
paired to  the  Grotto,  where,  as  on  the  preceding 
days,  the  Heavens  had  opened  themselves  before 
her  eyes,  and  displayed  to  her  the  Virgin  Mary  in 
a  state  of  glory. 

That  day  a  very  singular  occurrence  took  place 
before  the  wonder-struck  eyes  of  the  multitude. 

The  taper,  which  Bernadette  had  either  brought 
with  her,  or  received  from  one  of  the  bystanders, 
was  of  considerable  size  and  she  had  rested  it  on 
the  ground,  supporting  it  at  the  bottom  between 
the  fingers  of  her  hands,  which  were  half  clasped. 
The  Virgin  appeared  to  her.  And  behold,  by  an 
instinctive  movement  of  adoration,  the  youthful 
Seer,  falling  in  a  state  of  ecstacy  before  the  Im- 
maculate Beauty,  slightly  raised  her  hands  and  let 
them  rest  calmly,  and  without  thinking  of  what  she 
was  doing,  on  the  lighted  end  of  the  taper.  And 
then  the  flame  began  to  pass  between  her  fingers, 
which  were  half  open,  and  to  mount  above  them, 
flickering  in  different  directions,  according  as  the 
light  breeze  blew.  Bernadette,  however,  remained 
motionless  and  absorbed  in  the  heavenly  contempla- 
tion, utterly  unconscious  of  tl  e  phenomenon  which 
caused  so  much  astonishnv  nt  to  the  multitude 
10* 


226  OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDE8. 

around  her.  Those  who  witnessed  it  pressed  c  oselj 
on  each  other  in  order  to  obtaii  a  better  view. 
M.M.  Jean-Louis  Fourcade,  Martinou,  Estrade,  CaJ- 
let,  warden  of  the  forest,  the  demoiselles  Tard'hivail, 
and  a  hundred  other  persons  were  spectators  of  this 
unheard  of  incident.  M.  Dozons  had  remarked  by 
his  watch  that  this  extraordinary  state  lasted  more 
than  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  All  at  once  a  slight 
shudder  was  perceptible  in  the  frame  of  Bernadette. 
Her  features  lost  their  lofty  expression.  The 
Vision  had  vanished  and  the  child  resumed  her 
natural  state.  The  bystanders  seized  her  hand  but 
it  presented  nothing  unusual  to  the  eye.  The  flame 
had  spared  the  flesh  of  the  youthful  Seer  during 
her  ecstacy  at  the  feet  of  Mary.  The  crowd,  not 
without  sufficient  reasons,  exclaimed  that  a  Miracle 
had  been  performed.  One  of  the  spectators  how- 
ever, wishing  to  test  the  fact,  took  the  taper  which 
was  still  lighted  and  applied  it  to  Bernadette's 
hand,  without  her  being  aware  of  what  he  was 
doing. 

"  Ah  !  Sir,"  she  exclaimed,  drawing  back  quickly, 
"  you  are  burning  me." 

The  occurrences  at  Lourdes  had  produced  such 
an  excitement  in  the  surrounding  districts,  and  the 
influx  of  strangers  was  so  great,  that  on  that  day 
the  multitude  which  had  in  a  moment  flocked 
around  Bernadette  amounted  to  nearly  ten  thou- 
sand persons,  and  these  had  not  been  warned  be- 
forehand, as  was  the  case  during  the  Quinzaine. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8.  227 

V. 

SOME  young  women  of  Lourdes,  of  exemplary 
virtue,  among  whom  we  will  only  mention  by  name 
Marie  Courage,  a  pious  servant-maid  respected  by 
every  one,  had  the  same  vision  as  Bernadette,  at 
the  Grotto,  separately,  twice  or  thrice.  This  was 
vaguely  rumored  abroad,  but  had  no  influence  on 
the  mass  of  the  public.  Some  little  children  had 
also  visions,  but  of  a  perfectly  distinct  and  rather 
alarming  nature.  When  the  divine  Supernatural 
manifests  itself,  the  diabolical  Supernatural  strives 
to  mingle  itself  with  it.  This  is  a  truth  proved 
in  almost  every  page  of  the  history  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Desert  and  of  the  Mystics.  The  abyss 
was  troubled  and  the  Evil  Angel  had  recourse 
to  hie  counterfeits  for  the  purpose  of  troubling  the 
souls  of  believers. 

These  various  facts,  which  did  not  attract  much 
observation  at  the  time,  are  not  sufficiently  precise 
(more  especially  as  some  of  their  details  have  been 
forgotten)  to  be  consigned  to  the  pages  of  History. 
We  merely  point  them  out  that  we  may  not  incur 
the  blame  of  neglect.  The  true  visions  were  only 
important  so  far  as  they  affected  individuals,  the 
remainder  died  away  of  themselves. 

VI. 

THE  road  to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle  continued 
to  be  thronged.  Never  did  an  uproarious  cry 
escape  from  the  crowd,  nor  was  there  any  agitation 
in  this  popular  stream  whose  waves  were  inces- 


228  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDES. 

santly  renewed.  Canticles,  litanies,  viiuts  in  honor 
of  the  Virgin  were  all  that  struck  the  ear,  and  all 
that  M.  Jacomet  and  his  police  could  register  in 
their  Reports.  It  was  something  more  than  order, 
it  was  a  state  of  pious  recollection. 

The  artizans  of  Lourdes  had  widened  the  road 
which  had  been  laid  out  some  fifteen  or  twenty  days 
previously  on  the  slopes  of  Massabielle,  by  the 
quarry-men ;  they  had  blown  up  the  rock  with 
powder,  and  reduced  it  in  many  places,  so  that 
they  had  made  a  broad  and  very  commodious  road 
on  those  precipitous  declivities.  It  was  a  work  of 
considerable  toil,  requiring  trouble,  time,  and  out- 
lay of  money.  These  good-hearted  fellows  devoted 
themselves  to  the  task  every  evening,  on  their  re- 
turn from  the  work-yards  in  which  they  were 
employed  from  morning  to  night.  They  rested 
from  the  toil  of  their  hard  day's  work  in  laboring 
at  this  road,  which  led  the  way  to  God :  In  labore 
requies.  Towards  night-fall  they  might  be  seen 
clinging  like  a  nest  of  ants  to  the  side  of  the  steep 
descent,  digging,  wheeling  barrows,  boring  the 
rock,  inserting  powder  and  shivering  vast  blocks  of 
marble  or  granite. 

"  Who  will  pay  you  ?"  they  were  asked. 

"  The  Blessed  Virgin,"  was  the  reply. 

Before  retiring  from  their  labor,  they  descended 
all  together  into  the  Grotto  and  offered  up  their 
prayers  in  common. 

In  the  midst  of  this  magnificence  of  nature, 
beneath  that  lovely  starry  heaven,  these  Christian 
scenes  offered  a  spectacle  of  simplicity  and  grand- 
eur redolent  of  the  primitive  ages  of  the  Church. 

The  outward  appearance  of  the  Grotto  gradually 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  229 

changed.  Up  to  that  date  tapers  had  been  burned 
in  it  as  a  sign  of  veneration.  About  this  time  there 
were  placed  in  it  vases  of  flowers,  either  growing 
naturally  or  arranged  in  bouquets  by  pious  hands, 
statues  of  the  Virgin  and  ex-votos  as  marks  oi 
gratitude.  A  small  balustrade  had  been  erected 
by  the  workmen  to  protect  these  fragile  articles  from 
the  involuntary  accidents  which  might  have  hap- 
pened from  the  too  great  eagerness  of  the  throng. 
Several  persons,  having  received  some  special 
grace  by  the  intervention  of  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes, 
brought  with  them  by  way  of  homage  to  the  place 
of  the  Vision  their  little  gold  cross  and  chain,  and 
placed  their  pious  offering  under  the  guardianship 
of  the  public  faith.  As  it  was  from  that  time  the 
general  cry  of  the  country  that  the  command  of 
the  Apparition  must  be  obeyed,  and  a  chapel  erec- 
ted, it  became  the  custom  to  throw  pieces  of  money 
into  the  Grotto.  Considerable  sums,  amounting  to 
several  thousand  francs  lay  consequently  exposed 
m  the  open  air,  without  any  outward  protection, 
night  and  day:  and  such  was  the  respect  inspiied 
by  this  spot,  a  short  time  before'entirely  unknown — 
such  was  the  moral  effect  produced  on  souls,  that 
not  a  single  evil-doer  was  to  be  met  with  in  the 
whole  country  to  attempt  a  sacrilegious  robbery. 
But  what  made  this  more  wonderful  was  the  fact 
that,  a  few  months  previously  several  churches  in 
the  neighbourhood  had  been  plundered.  The  Vir- 
gin willed  not  that  the  slightest  souvenir  of  crime 
should  be  connected  with  the  origin  of  the  pilgrim 
age  it  was  her  wish  to  establish. 


230  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

VII. 

A  SINGULAR  circumstance,  which  perhaps  passed 
unnoticed  at  the  time,  derived  importance  from 
what  followed,  and  struck  the  attention  of  many. 
We  cannot  refrain  from  pointing  it  out. 

One  of  the  highest  privileges  of  soveregnity  is 
the  right  of  granting  pardon,  and  when  a  king 
wishes  to  solemnize  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he 
issues  an  amnesty  to  those  who  have  made  them- 
selves amenable  to  the  law. 

The  power  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven  was  greater, 
and  she  exerted  it  in  a  higher  degree.  She  willed 
that  there  should  not  be  any  guilty  of  crime.  The 
Apparitions  which  had  already  taken  place,  and 
those  which  took  place  later  on,  were  spread  over 
two  periods  of  three  months ;  at  the  commence- 
ment of  each  of  which  the  assizes  were  held.  Now 
during  these  two  judicial  quarters,  there  was  not  a 
single  crime  committed  or  a  single  criminal  condemned, 
throughout  the  Department.  The  session  of  the 
March  assizes  had  only  to  examine  a  single  case 
anterior  to  the  date  of  the  Apparitions,  and  this 
single  case  terminated  in  an  acquittal.  The  next 
session,  which  was  to  be  in  June,  had  only  two 
cases  to  pronounce  upon,  both  connected  with  occur- 
rences anterior  to  this  same  period. 

It  appears  to  us  that  this  wonderful  coincidence, 
this  mysterious  mark  of  divine  influence  which 
hovered  over  the  whole  country,  this  entirely  ex- 
traneous proof,  this  moral  prodigy,  this  miracle 
extending  over  a  whole  diocese,  is  eminently  calcu- 
lated to  afford  food  for  reflection  to  the  most 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  231 

frivolous  minds.  How  came  it  that  during  so  long 
a  time  the  arm  of  the  criminal  was  stayed  ?  Is  that 
imposture,  hallucination  or  calalepsy  ?  How  was  it 
that  the  sword  of  justice  was  not  required  to  strike 
a  blow?  How  came  this  peace,  this  truce  of  God? 
Precisely  at  that  very  -moment.  Setting  aside  the 
reason  we  have  assigned,  we  challenge  unbelief  to 
endeavor  to  discover  the  cause  of  this  surprising 
fact,  of  this  strange  coincidence.  It  will  make  the 
attempt  in  vain. 

The  Queen  of  Heaven  had  passed  by,  the  Queen 
of  Heaven  had  left  her  blessing. 

Bernadette  received  constant  visits  from  the  in- 
numerable strangers  whom  piety  or  curiosity 
brought  in  crowds  to  Lourdes.  They  were  of  all 
classes,  of  all  professions,  and  of  every  school  of 
philosophy.  No  one  was  offended  at  the  simpli 
and  sincere  language  of  the  youthful  Seer ;  no  one 
after  seeing  her  and  hearing  her  speak  dared  to  say 
that  she  was  telling  falsehoods. 

In  the  midst  of  excited  parties  and  numberless 
discussions,  this  little  girl,  by  an  inconceivable  priv- 
ilege, inspired  every  one  with  respect,  and  was 
never,  for  a  single  moment,  exposed  to  the  attacks 
of  calumny.  Such  was  the  halo  of  her  innocence, 
that  she  was  never  personally  assailed :  she  was 
protected  by  an  invisible  aegis. 

Bernadette  was,  in  every  respect,  a  child  of  very 
ordinary  intelligence,  but  she  seemed  to  rise  above 
herself  whenever  she  had  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
truth  of  the  Apparition.  She  was  never  discom- 
posed by  any  objection. 

Her  answers,  at  times,  displayed  considerable 
depth  of  thought.  M.  de  Resseginer,  Counselor 


232  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

General  and  formerly  Deputy  for  the  Basses-Pyr- 
enees, came  to  see  her,  accompanied  by  several 
ladies  of  his  family.  He  made  her  enter  into  the 
most  minute  details  connected  with  the  Visions. 
On  Bernadette  telling  him  that  the  Apparition 
expressed  herself  in  the  patois  of  Beam,  he  ex- 
claimed : 

"  You  are  not  telling  the  truth,  my  child  !  God 
and  the  Blessed  Virgin  do  not  understand  your 
patois,  and  know  nothing  of  such  a  miserable  dia- 
lect." 

"  If  they  did  not  know  it,"  she  replied,  '•  how 
could  we  know  it  ourselves  ?  And  if  they  did  not 
understand  it,  who  could  render  us  capable  of  un- 
derstanding it  ?" 

Her  repartees  were  not  deficient  in  wit. 

"  How  could  the  Blessed  Virgin  have  ordered 
you  to  eat  grass  ?  Did  she  take  you  for  a  beast  of 
the  field,"  observed  a  sceptic  to  her  one  day. 

"  Do  you  think  of  that  when  you  are  eating 
salad  ?  "  she  replied,  smiling  archly. 

Her  answers  were  remarkable  for  their  artless 
simplicity.  This  same  M.  de  Resseginer  happened 
to  be  speaking  to  her  of  the  beauty  of  the  Appari- 
tion at  the  Grotto. 

"  Was  she  as  beautiful  as  any  of  the  company  now 
present,"  he  asked  her. 

Bernadette  glanced  slowly  round  the  charming 
circle  of  ladies,  married  and  unmarried,  who  had 
accompanied  her  visitor,  and  with  almost  a  little 
pout  of  disdain  she  replied : 

"  Oh !  it  was  quite  a  different  thing  from  all  that  /' 
*  All  that,"  was  the  elite  of  the  society  of  Pau. 

She  used  to  disconcert  those  who  proposed  to  her 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDES.  233 

subtle  questions  in  hopes  of  causing  her  embar  ass- 
ment. 

"  If  the  Curd  were  to  formally  prohibit  your  going 
to  the  Grotto,  what  would  you  do  ?"  some  one  said 
to  her. 

"  I  would  obey  him." 

"  But  if  you  reeived  at  the  same  time  from  the 
Apparition  a  command  to  repair  thither,  how  would 
you  act  between  these  two  contrary  orders?" 

The  child  without  the  slightest  hesitation  an 
iwered  at  once : 

"  I  should  go  to  ask  permission  from  the  Cur&" 

Nothing  either  then  or  later  caused  her  to  lose 
her  graceful  simplicity.  She  never  spoke  of  the 
Apparition  unless  she  was  interrogated  on  the  sub- 
ject. She  always  regarded  herself  as  the  most 
backward  of  all  the  children  at  the  school  superin- 
tended by  the  Sisters,  who  found  some  difficulty  in 
teaching  her  to  read  and  write.  The  mind  of  this 
child  was  elsewhere,  or,  if  we  dared  to  penetrate  the 
recesses  of  her  exquisite  nature  so  imbued  with 
grace,  we  would  rather  say  her  soul,  which  doubt- 
less felt  little  curiosity  towards  mere  earthly  learn- 
ing, was  playing  truant  in  the  thickets  of  Paradise. 

During  the  hours  of  recreation  she  was  con- 
founded  with  the  rest  of  her  companions.  She 
liked  to  play. 

Sometimes  a  visitor,  it  might  be  a  stranger  irocu 
a  distance,  requested  the  Sisters  to  show  him  this 
youthful  Seer,  this  being  so  privileged  by  the  Lord, 
this  beloved  of  the  Virgin,  this  Bernadette  whose 
name  had  already  acquired  so  much  celebrity. 

"  There  she  is,"  said  the  Sister,  pointing  her  out 
w  itn  her  finger  among  the  rest  of  the  children. 


E34  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDES. 

The  visitor  on  turning  his  eyes  in  that  direction 
beheld  a  little  weakly  child,  miserably  dressed, 
playing  at  base,  blind-man's  buff,  or  with  her  skip- 
ping  rope,  entirely  taken  up  with  the  pleasures  of 
childhood.  But  what  she  preferred  to  any  thing 
else  was  to  figure  as  the  thirtieth  or  fortieth  in  one 
of  those  immense  circles  which  children  make,  hold- 
ing each  others  hands  and  singing  all  the  while. 

The  Mother  of  God,  while  visiting  Bernadette, 
while  allotting  to  her  the  part  of  a  witness  of 
divine  things,  while  making  her  the  center  of  vast 
throngs,  and  as  it  were,  an  object  of  pilgrimage, 
had,  by  a  miracle  greater  than  all  the  others,  pro- 
tected her  candor  and  her  innocence,  and  had 
granted  her  the  extraordinary,  nay,  divine  gift,  ot 
remaining  a  child. 

IX. 

IT  was  not  only  at  Lourdes  that  miraculous  curef 
had  taken  place.  Many,  whose  maladies  prevented 
them  from  repairing  to  the  Grotto  had  procured 
some  of  the  water  and  found  their  most  inveterate 
symptoms  suddenly  disappear. 

At  Nay,  in  the  Basses  Pyrenees,  there  was  a  young 
lad,  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  called  Henry  Busquet, 
who  fallen  into  hopelessly  bad  health.  He  had, 
in  1856,  a  violent  and  long  typhoid  fever,  the 
result  of  which  was  that  an  abscess  had  formed  on 
the  right  side  of  his  neck,  spreading  imperceptibly 
to  the  top  of  his  chest  and  the  extremity  of  his 
cheek.  The  abscess  was  about  as  big  as  your  hand. 
This  caused  the  lad  such  intense  suffering  as  to 
force  him  at  times  to  roll  himself  on  the  ground 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  23$ 

The  medical  man  who  attended  him,  Doctor  Suber. 
vielle,  a  practitioner  of  great  repute  in  his  district, 
lanced  the  abscess  about  four  months  after  its  first 
formation,  and  there  issued  from  it  a  vast  quantity  of 
sero-purulent  matter ;  but  this  operation  did  not  con- 
duce  to  the  recovery  of  Henry.  After  having  tried 
several  unavailing  remedies,  the  Doctor  thought  of 
the  waters  at  Cauterets.  In  1857,  in  the  course 
of  the  month  of  October  —  a  season  of  the  year 
when  the  rich  frequenters  of  the  baths  having  taken 
their  departure,  those  in  poorer  circumstances  repair 
to  them  —  young  Busquet  went  to  Cauterets  and 
took  a  course  of  fifteen  baths.  These  proved  more 
prejudicial  than  userul  to  him  and  served  but  to  ag- 
gravate his  sores.  His  malady  increased  in  violence 
notwithstanding  some  momentary  relief.  The  un- 
fortunate lad  had,  in  the  parts  mentioned  above,  an 
extensive  ulcer,  which  emitted  an  abundant  suppu- 
ration, covering  the  top  of  his  chest  and  all  one  side 
of  his  neck,  and  threatening  to  spread  to  his  face. 
In  addition  to  this,  two  fresh  glandular  swellings 
of  considerable  size  had  arisen  at  the  side  of  this 
ternble  ulcer. 

Such  was  the  state  of  this  poor  lad  when,  happen- 
ing to  hear  the  marvelous  effects  of  the  water  of 
the  Grotto  spoken  of,  he  had  thoughts  of  under- 
taking the  journey  to  Lourdes.  He  wished  to  leave 
home  and  make  the  pilgrimage  on  foot ;  but  he 
presumed  too  much  on  his  own  strength,  and  his 
parents  refused  to  take  him  there. 

Henry,  who  was  very  pious,  was  haunted  with 
che  idea  that  he  would  be  cured  by  the  Virgin  who 
had  appeared  to  Bernadette.  He  requested  a 
woman,  one  of  his  neighbors  who  was  going  to 


£36  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUHDE8. 

Lourdes,  to  draw  for  him  a  little  of  the  water  at  the 
Spring.  She  brought  him  a  bottle-full  of  it  on  the 
evening  of  Wednesday,  April  the  28th,  the  Feast  of 
the  Patronage  of  St.  Joseph. 

Towards  eight  o'clock  at  night,  before  retiring  to 
rest,  the  lad  knelt  down  and  prayed  to  the  Most 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

His  family,  consisting  of  his  father,  mother  and 
several  brothers  and  sisters,  joined  with  him  in 
prayer.  They  were  all  excellent  people,  simple 
and  full  of  faith :  one  of  the  daughters  is  at  the 
present  moment  a  religieuse  with  the  Sisters  of 
Saint  Andre. 

Henry  went  to  bed.  Doctor  Subervielle  had 
charged  him  repeatedly  never  to  use  cold  water, 
as  it  would  inevitably  lead  to  a  serious  complication 
of  his  malady  ;  but  at  that  moment  Henry  was  think- 
ing of  something  else  than  medical  prescriptions.  He 
removed  the  bandages  and  lint  which  covered  his 
ulcer,  and  with  a  piece  of  linen  soaked  in  the  water 
from  the  Grotto,  he  bathed  and  washed  his  sores 
in  the  miraculous  fluid.  He  was  not  wanting  in 
faith.  "  It  must  be,"  he  thought  to  himself,  "  that 
the  Virgin  will  effect  my  cure."  He  went  to  sleep 
with  this  hope  in  his  breast  and  fell  into  a  deep 
slumber. 

On  awaking,  what  he  had  hoped  proved  a  reality ; 
all  his  pain  had  ceased,  all  his  sores  were  closed , 
the  glandular  swellings  had  disappeared.  The 
ulcer  had  became  a  solid  scar,  as  solid  as  if  it  had 
been  slowly  healed  by  the  hand  of  time.  The 
eternal  power  which  had  stepped  in  and  effected 
the  cure,  had  performed  in  a  few  moments  the  work 
of  several  months  or  several  years.  H'S  recovery 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8.  237 

had  been  complete,  sudden  and  without  any  inter 
mediate  state  of  convalescence. 

The  medical  men  in  their  Report  addressed  to 
the  Commission  (from  which  we  have  derived  the 
technical  terms  employed  in  oui  narration),  humbly 
acknowledged  the  miraculous  nature  of  the  young 
lad's  recovery. 

"  All  affections  of  this  nature,  '  observed  one  of 
them,  "  can  only  be  cured  very  slowly,  because 
they  are  connected  with  scrofulous  diathesis,  and 
involve  the  necessity  of  an  entire  change  in  the  sys- 
tem. This  consideration  alone,  placed  in  opposition 
with  the  suddenness  of  the  cure,  is  sufficient  to  prove 
that  the  fact  in  question  deviates  from  the  ordinary 
action  of  nature.  We  rank  it  among  facts  which 
fully  and  evidently  possess  a  supernatural  charac- 
ter." 

The  lad's  usual  medical  attendant,  Doctor  Suber 
vielle,  declared  this  sudden  cure  —  as  indeed  did 
every  one  —  to  be  marvelous  and  divine ;  but  the 
restless  skepticism,  which  often  lurks  at  the  bottom 
of  the  hearts  of  members  of  the  Faculty,  waited  for 
time  to  afford  full  proof  of  the  truth  of  his  theory. 

"  Who  knows,"  M.  Soubervielle  was  often  in  the 
habit  of  saying,  "  but  what  this  malady  may  recur 
when  Henry  reaches  the  age  of  eighteen  ?  Up  to 
that  period  I  shall  be  always  in  a  state  of  anxiety." 

The  eminent  physician  who  spoke  thus  was  not 
destined  to  rejoice  at  seeing  the  cure  of  Henry  con- 
firmed  by  time.  He  died  a  short  time  after  this 
and  his  death  was  a  calamity  to  that  part  of  the 
country. 

As  to  young  Henry  Busquet,  the  author  of  this 
book,  in  accordance  with  his  practice  of  ascertain- 


238  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ing  the  truth  of  facts  by  personal  investigation, 
availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  seeing  him 
and  hearing  the  circumstances  from  his  own  lips. 

Henry  told  us  his  story,  with  which  we  are  al« 
ready  acquainted  from  official  reports  and  the  tes- 
timony of  several  individuals.  He  related  it  to  us 
as  if  it  had  been  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world, 
without  showing  surprise  or  astonishment.  To  the 
strong  good  sense  of  Christians,  like  Henry,  sprung 
from  the  lower  classes,  whose  minds  have  not  been 
led  astray  by  sophistry,  the  supernatural  does  not 
appear  extraordinary,  still  less  contrary  to  reason. 
They  find  it  strictly  conformable  with  common  sense. 
If  they  are  sometimes  surprised  at  being  restored 
to  health  by  the  aid  of  a  physician,  it  is  to  them  no 
matter  for  astonishment  that  God,  who  had  power 
sufficient  to  create  man,  should,  in  his  loving  kind- 
ness, cure  him  when  attacked  with  sickness.  They 
see  clearly  at  a  glance  that  a  miracle,  far  from  dis- 
turbing order,  is  on  the  contrary  one  of  the  laws 
of  eternal  order.  If  God,  in  His  mercy,  has  con- 
ferred on  certain  waters  the  virtue  of  removing 
maladies  of  certain  kinds — if  He  cures  indirectly 
those  who  employ,  according  to  certain  conditions, 
such  material  agency,  have  we  not  greater  reason 
to  believe  that  He  will  effect  a  direct  cure  in  those 
who  address  themselves  directly  to  Him  ?  Such  is 
the  reasoning  of  the  humbler  classes. 

It  was  our  great  wish  to  see  with  our  own  eyes 
and  touch  with  our  own  hands  the  traces  of  this 
terrible  sore,  which  had  been  so  miraculously  cured. 
The  place  where  the  ulcer  was  is  marked  by  an  im- 
mense scar.  It  is  now  long  since  the  lad  passed 
safely  through  the  crisis  of  his  eighteenth  year 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDES. 


239 


and  there  has  been  no  hint  of  any  return  of  his 
cruel  malady.  He  has  never  suffered  again  from 
any  running  nor  shown  any  tendency  to  glandular 
swellings,  and  he  enjoys  perfect  health.  Henry  Bu<*- 
quet  is  now  a  man  of  five  and  twenty  years  of  age 
strong  and  hearty.  Like  his  father,  he  is  a  plaster- 
er by  trade.  On  Sundays  he  plays  the  trombone 
in  the  brass  band  at  the  Fanfare  de  C Orphean,  an  in- 
strument on  which  he  displays  no  small  talent.  He 
has  a  splendid  voice.  If  ever  you  happen  to  go  to 
the  town  of  Nay,  you  will  not  fail  of  hearing  him 
through  the  windows  of  some  house,  either  being 
built  or  repaired,  for,  when  on  the  scaffolding,  he  is 
wont  to  sing  at  the  top  of  his  voice  from  morning 
till  night.  You  may  listen  to  him  without  any  fear 
of  your  ears  being  offended  by  any  coarse  song. 
His  charming  voice  delights  in  gay  and  innocent 
ballads,  not  unfrequently  in  the  canticles  of  the 
Church.  The  singer  has  not  forgotten  that  it  is  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin  he  owes  his  life. 

X. 

WHILE  all  these  Miracles  were  '-iking  place  in 
different  directions,  there  occurrec  an  incident,  in 
appearance  very  foreign  to  the  object  of  this  his- 
tory, but  which,  notwithstanding  its  apparent  in- 
significance, was  destined  to  be  attended  with  most 
important  consequences  as  events  progressed. 

The  Prefect  of  the  Hautes-Pyrenees  made  about 
this  time  the  notable  discovery  that  his  carriage  and 
saddle  horses  were  not  particularly  well  domiciled 
and  that  it  was  desirable  to  erect  elegant  and  spa- 
cious stables  for  their  accommodation.  Unfortu 


24O  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8. 

nately  the  ground  about  the  Prefecture  \\as  seme- 
what  confined,  and  Baron  Massy  wished,  above  aL 
things,  to  avoid  disfiguring  either  his  court -yard  01 
his  garden. 

The  Prefecture  of  Tarbes  is  quite  close  to  the 
Cathedral.  Between  the  two  buildings  was  the  for- 
mer  cemetery  of  the  priests  and  canons  of  tho 
Church.  It  is  handed  down  by  tradition,  that 
many  of  the  noble  families  of  the  country  had  for- 
merly had  vaults  in  it,  and  that  the  ashes  of  their 
illustrious  members  repose  below.  The  Prefect  ob- 
served to  himself  that  this  plot  of  ground  was  the 
very  thing  for  his  stables  and  coach-houses.  With 
Baron  Massy  the  execution  of  a  project  followed 
speedily  on  its  first  conception.  He  had  the  founda- 
tions therefore  dug  among  the  tomb-stones  and 
fragments  of  human  bones,  and  the  buildings  neces 
sary  for  the  accommodation  of  the  official  horses 
began  shortly  afterwards  to  rise  conspicuously  in 
the  cemetery.  The  Prefect  erected  his  buildings 
exactly  opposite  one  of  the  ancient  doors  of  the 
Cathedral,  and  at  a  very  small  distance  from  it,  so 
that  the  noise  of  the  stable  was  unavoidably  heard 
by  the  congregation. 

Such  a  forgetfulness  of  decorum  could  not  fail  of 
deeply  annoying  the  occupants  of  the  Palace.  Mon- 
seigneur  Laurence  strove  in  vain  to  make  the  Pre- 
fect understand  that  the  ground  was  consecrated, 
that  it  belonged  to  the  Church,  and  that  neither  the 
repose  of  the  dead  nor  the  devotion  of  the  living, 
ought  to  be  disturbed  by  the  pawing  and  neighing 
of  horses.  The  Prefect,  as  we  have  observed  be- 
fore, could  never  relinquish  what  he  had  once  re- 
»olved  uodn.  By  discharging  his  workmen  and  se« 


OUR  LADY  CP  LOURDE8.  241 

lecting  another  site,  he  wou  d  have  allowed  himself 
to  have  been  in  the  wrong.  Notwithstanding-,  there- 
fore, the  sincere  desire  he  might  have  to  keep  the 
Bishop  m  good  humor,  he  did  not  pay  the  slightest 
attention  to  his  remonstrances.  His  workmen  re- 
mained on  the  old  cemetery  engaged  in  the  con- 
struction of  his  stables. 

On  seeing  the  Prefect  persist  in  his  desecration 
of  the  tombs,  Monseigneur  Laurence  threw  off  his 
reserve  and  protested  energetically  against  his  con- 
duct. The  Bishop  addressed  himself  directly  tc 
the  Minister  of  Public  Worship,  requesting  author- 
ization to  pull  down  these  unseemly  and  offensive 
buildings. 

The  Prefect  was  greatly  annoyed  at  the  very  firm 
and  dignified  attitude  assumed  by  the  Bishop.  He 
went  post-haste  to  Paris,  to  argue  his  own  case  with 
the  Minister,  and  endeavored  to  bring  over  the 
Council  General  to  his  side  of  the  question ;  he 
sought  legal  opinions  on  the  subject,  and  in  short 
entered  on  a  desperate  struggle,  the  various  epi 
sodes  of  which  would  be  of  no  interest  to  our  read- 
ers. The  question  lasted  several  months,  and  was 
eventually  decided  in  accordance  with  the  wise  ex- 
postulations of  Monseigneur  Laurence.  The  grass 
grows  once  more  to-day  on  the  site  of  the  demol- 
ished stables,  and  a  funereal  tree,  planted  in  the 
centre  of  the  cemetery,  serves  to  mark  that  the 
ashes  of  the  dead  repose  in  that  place. 

But  from  the  day  when  the  Bishop  issued  his  pro- 
test, the  harmony,  which,  up  to  that  period,  had  ex 
isted  between  the  Head  of  the  Department  and  the 
Head  of  the  Diocese  was  broken  for  ever.  In  the 
heart  of  the  Prefect  this  harmony  was  succeeded 
ii 


OUR  ^ADT  OF  LOURDE8. 

by  an  intense  feeling  of  irritation.  He  ceased  to  be 
incined  to  arrange  matters  amicably  ;  perhaps  his 
tendencies  took  quite  the  opposite  direction.  As  he 
wished  to  encroach  on  the  property  of  the  Church 
in  this  miserable  affair  of  his  stables,  so  with  regard 
to  the  question  of  the  Apparitions,  he  from  that 
time  felt  himself  more  inclined  than  before  to  en- 
croach on  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop. 

The  bridle,  which  ^>  to  that  moment  had  kept 
him  in  check,  was  snapped.  Great  effects  are  not 
unfrequently  produced  by  very  insignificant  causes. 

XI. 

IN  the  course  of  the  months  of  April  and  May, 
after  as  well  as  before  the  receipt  of  the  letter  from 
the  Minister,  the  Prefect  had  employed  his  natural 
quickness  of  mind  in  endeavoring  to  find  a  key  to 
these  strange  events  at  Lourdes,  independent  of  the 
supernatural.  Interrogatories  had  been  renewed 
to  no  purpose,  by  the  Parquet  and  Monsieur  Jaco- 
met.  Neither  the  Commissary  of  Police  nor  M. 
Dutour  had  been  able  to  catch  the  child  tripping. 
This  little  shepherd-girl,  thirteen  or  fourteen  years 
of  age,  illiterate  and  unable  to  read  or  write,  or 
even  speak  French,  disconcerted  by  the  mere  force 
of  her  profound  simplicity  the  crafty  and  the  pru- 
dent. 

A  disciple  of  the  Mesmers  and  the  Du  Potets— 
where  from  no  one  knew — had  attempted  in  vain  to 
throw  Bernadette  into  the  magnetic  slumber.  His 
passes  had  failed  in  exerting  the  slightest  influence 
on  heV  calm,  and  but  slightly  nervous  temperament, 
tnd  his  success  was  limited  to  causing  the  child  a 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8.  243 

nead-ache.  The  poor  little  thing,  however,  sub- 
mitted herself  with  resignation  to  the  experiments 
and  examinations  of  every  one.  It  was  the  will  of 
God  that  she  should  be  exposed  to  every  form  ot 
trial,  and  emerge  triumphantly  from  them  all,  with 
out  exception. 

It  was  understood  that  a  foreign  family  of  im-  / 
mense  fortune  having,  as  was  the  case  with  all,  been 
fascinated  with  Bernadette,  had  proposed  to  adopt 
her,  offering  at  the  same  time  to  her  parents  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  francs,  with  the  per- 
mission of  remaining  with  their  daughter.  The 
disinterestedness  of  these  good  souls  had  not  even 
been  tempted  for  a  moment,  and  they  preferred  re- 
maining poor. 

Every  thing  brought  to  bear  on  Bernadette  failed, 
the  snares  laid  by  guile,  the  offers  of  enthusiasm, 
the  dialectics  of  the  most  acute  intellects. 

However  great  the  horror  M.  Dutour  entertained 
for  fanaticism,  he  was  unable  to  find,  either  in  the 
Code  of  Criminal  Instruction  or  in  the  Penal  Code, 
any  text  which  would  authorize  him  in  taking  se- 
vere measures  against  Bernadette,  and  throwing  her 
into  prison,  An  arrest  of  this  nature  would  have 
been  illegal  in  the  highest  degree,  and  might  be  at- 
tended with  very  unpleasant  consequences  to  the 
Magistrate  by  whose  order  it  was  carried  into  exe- 
cution. In  the  eye  of  the  penal  law,  Bernadette  was 
innocent. 

The  Prefect,  with  his  exceeding  clearness  of  mind 
took  all  this  into  consideration  as  thoroughly  as  if 
he  had  been  a  practical  lawyer.    He  then  entertaik 
ed  the  idea  of  arriving  at  the  same  result  by  the  em- 
ployment of  other  means,  and  of  proceeding  by  a 


244  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDB8. 

measure  emanating  from  the  Administration  to  ef- 
fect an  incarceration,  which,  as  it  appeared  to  him, 
would  be  of  considerable  utility,  but  in  which  tht 
Magistrates,  with  the  codes  in  their  hands,  did  not 
deem  themselves  authorized  to  assume  the  initiative. 

XII. 

IN  the  immense  arsenal  of  our  laws  and  regula- 
tions, there  is  one  formidable  weapon  provided,  as 
we  think,  somewhat  imprudently,  with  the  very 
praiseworthy  intention  of  protecting  an  individual 
against  himself,  but  which — should  it  chance  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  malice  and  blind  hatred — may 
give  rise  to  the  most  frightful  of  all  tyrannies;  we 
mean  the  arbitrary  sequestration — against  which 
there  is  no  power  of  appeal — of  an  innocent  person. 
We  would  be  understood  to  allude  to  the  law 
regarding  Insanity.  Without  public  discussion, 
or  the  possibility  of  making  any  defence,  on  the  cer- 
tificate of  one  or  two  medical  men,  declaring  him  to 
be  laboring  under  mental  alienation,  an  unfortunate 
wretch  may  be  seized  suddenly,  by  a  simple  meas- 
ure of  the  Administration,  and  thrown  into  the 
most  horrible  of  prisons — into  the  dungeon  of  a 
mad-house.  We  believe,  and  we  are  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  believing,  that,  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
this  law  is  equitably  applied,  in  consequence  of  the 
general  feeling  of  honor  and  the  capacity  of  the 
medical  bod}7.  But,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  understand 
how  this  feeling  of  honor  and  this  medical  knowl- 
edge can  afford  just  reasons  for  suppressing  all 
means  of  defence,  all  publicity,  and  all  opportunity 
of  appeal ;  that  the  decision,  with  closed  doors,  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUBDBB.  345 

two  medical  men,  should  be  exempted  from  this 
triple  guarantee  with  which  the  Law  has  seen  right 
to  surround  the  judgments  pronounced  by  the  Mag- 
istracy. The  members  of  the  medical  profession 
are,  doubtless,  well  skilled  in  their  art,  and  we  ac- 
knowledge that  the  fact  of  finding  two  of  them 
perfectly  agreed  in  opinion,  renders  the  truth  of 
their  common  thesis  sufficiently  probable ;  but,  is 
there  in  this  proceeding  a  certitude  sufficiently 
grave,  sufficiently  evident,  sufficiently  clear — if  we 
may  be  permitted  to  employ  a  pleonasm  of  this  na 
ture — to  confer  irrevocably  the  right  of  depriving, 
without  any  other  form  of  procedure,  a  citizen  of 
his  liberty?  That  medical  men  are  actuated  by  a 
high  sense  of  honor  is  equally  beyond  a  doubt,  and 
no  one  has  a  greater  veneration  than  ourselves  for 
members  of  their  profession ;  but,  may  not — more 
especially  in  cases  of  mental  alienation — their  pre- 
conceived ideas  and  philosophical  doctrines  some- 
times incline  their  minds,  in  spite  of  themselves,  to- 
wards very  deplorable  errors  ?  One  of  them,  M. 
Lelut,  in  a  publication  which  h;i  gained  a  certain 
celebrity,  has  ranked  amongst  the  deranged,  Soc 
rates,  Newton,  Saint  Theresa,  Pascal,  and  a  host 
of  others,  who,  like  the  former,  were  the  glory  of 
Humanity.  Would,  for  instance,  such  a  Master  and 
his  pupils  deserve  to  be  invested  with  the  right  of 
shutting  up  as  maniacs,  without  any  opposing  evi- 
dence, without  publicity  and  without  appeal,  mere- 
ly after  a  simple  consultation,  all  those  whom  they 
should  regard  as  such  ?  And  yet,  M.  Lelut  is  a  man 
of  remarkable  learning  and  a  medical  celebrity ;  he 
is  a  member  of  the  Institute.  What  can  we  say  of 
the  guarantee  offered  by  the  mob  of  practitioners — 


346  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

by  some  of  those  wretched  little  village  doctors  who 
have  succeeded  to  the  Barber-Surgeons,  with  whom 
our  ancestors  were  perfectly  satisfied. 

Convinced  as  he  was  of  the  absolute  impossibility 
of  the  Supernatural,  Baron  Massy,  observing  the 
incapacity  of  action  to  which  the  Magistracy  was 
reduced,  hesitated  not  to  seek  for  a  solution  of  the 
extraordinary  question,  which  had  so  suddenly 
arisen  in  his  department,  in  calling  this  terrible  law 
to  his  assistance. 

XIII. 

ON  learning  that  the  Virgin  had  appeared  anew 
and  revealed  her  name  to  Bernadette,  the  Prefect 
sent  a  Commission,  composed  of  two  medical  men, 
to  the  house  of  Soubirous.  He  chose  them  from 
among  those,  who,  like  himself,  rejected  the  Super- 
natural, and  who  had  their  conclusions  written  be- 
forehand in  their  so-called  medical  philosophy. 
These  two  physicians  who  belonged  to  Lourdes— one 
of  them  being  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Procureur 
Imperial — had  been  exhausting  their  efforts  for  the 
last  three  weeks  in  supporting  all  kinds  of  theories 
on  catalepsy,  somnambulism,  and  hallucination,  and 
waging  a  war  of  exasperation  against  the  inexpli- 
cable radiances  of  Bernadette  in  her  state  of  ecstacy 
the  gushing  forth  of  the  Spring,  and  against  the  sud- 
den cures  which  were  perpetually  occurring  to  ef 
feet  a  breach  in  the  doctrines  with  which  their  pro 
fessional  education  had  imbued  them. 

It  was  to  these  men  and  under  these  circum 
stances,  that  the  Prefect,  in  his  wisdom,  deemed  \\ 
right  to  confide  the  examination  of  Bernadette. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDW8.  247 

These  gentlemen  felt  the  child's  head  and  did  not 
discover  in  it  anything  wrong.  On  comparing  it 
with  the  system  of  Gall,  no  signs  of  the  bump  of 
insanity  were  visible.  The  child's  answers  were 
sensible,  without  any  contradictions  or  singularity. 
There  was  nothing  exaggerated  in  the  nervous  sys- 
tem: on  the  contrary,  there  was  the  most  peifect 
equilibrium,  and  an  indescribable  calmness.  The 
little  girl's  chest  suffered  often  from  asthma,  but  this 
infirmity  had  no  connection  with  a  derangement  of 
the  brain. 

The  two  physicians,  who,  in  spite  of  their  preju- 
dices were  truly  conscientious  men,  recorded  all  this 
in  their  report,  and  attested  the  healthy  and  normal 
state  of  the  child. 

However,  as,  when  the  Apparitions  were  in  ques- 
tion, she  persisted  without  variation  in  her  account 
of  what  had  taken  place,  the  two  gentlemen,  who 
utterly  disbelieved  the  possibility  of  visions  of  the 
kind,  laid  considerable  stress  on  that  head,  in  order 
to  affirm  that  Bernadette  might  possibly  be  laboring 
under  a  state  of  hallucination. 

In  spite  of  their  anti-supernatural  notions,  they 
dared  not — after  seeing  the  child's  state,  in  which 
mind  and  body  seemed  to  be  so  equally  balanced — 
assume  a  more  decided  tone  of  affirmation.  They 
felt  instinctively,  that  it  was  not  their  positive  sci- 
ence, with  its  concomitant  certitude,  but  rather  their 
preconceived  philosophical  opinions  which  led  them 
to  a  conclusion  of  this  kind,  and  which  answered 
one  question  by  propounding  another. 

The  Prefect  did  not  scrutinize  the  affair  so  nar- 
rowly, and  the  report  appeared  to  him  sufficient 
Armed  with  this  document,  and  in  virtue  of  the  law 


248  OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDE8. 

of  June  3oth,  1838,  he  determined  to  have   Bern* 
dette  arrested  and  conducted  to  Tarbes  to  be  shut 
up  provisionally  in  the  hospital,  from  which   she 
would  doubtless  be  transferred   eventually  to  the 
lunatic  asylum. 

It  was  not  enough  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  child.it 
was  necessary  to  oppose  a  barrier  to  this  extraordi- 
nary movement  of  the  people.  M.  Rouland  had  in- 
sinuated in  his  letter  to  the  Prefect,  that  this  was 
possible  without  outstepping  the  limits  of  the  law. 
For  this,  it  was  only  required  to  consider  the  Grotto 
as  an  Oratory,  and  to  have  it  stripped  of  its  ex-vo~ 
tos  and  the  offerings  of  believers. 

If  these  believers  opposed  any  resistance,  a  squad- 
ron of  cavalry  would  be  quartered  at  Tarbes,  ready 
to  act  as  events  might  render  necessary.  An  out- 
break would  have  crowned  the  secret  wishes  of 
many.  It  only  remained  to  put  into  execution  these 
various  measures  against  Bernadette  and  the  popu- 
lation of  the  Department.  The  Prefectoral  infalli- 
bility had  recognized  their  necessity  and  urgency, 
in  order  to  parry  the  increasing  attacks  of  Supersti- 
tion. 

XIV. 

IT  was  the  time  of  the  year  when  the  Council  of 
Revision  was  held.  Under  these  circumstances,  M. 
Massy  had  an  opportunity  of  going  to  Lourdes, 
where  all  the  Mayors  of  the  canton  would  meet 
him. 

"  The  Prefect,"  as  an  illustrious  writer  has  since 
observed,  "had  undertaken  on  that  day  to  impose 
on  those  under  his  jurisdiction  a  tolerably  sever* 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 


249 


and  grievous  service,  inaugurated  in  a  sufficiently 
repugnant  manner.  He  might  have  well  under- 
stood, had  he  wished  to  do  so,  that  some  consoling 
liberties  are  necessary  as  a  slight  compensation  for 
the  sacrifices  exacted  by  society.  Now,  the  liberty 
of  praying  in  certain  places,  of  burning  a  taper 
there,  of  placing  an  offering  there,  or  drawing  thence 
a  little  water,  cannot  appear  very  onerous  to  the 
state,  fatal  to  the  public  liberty,  nor  offensive  to  the 
modesty  or  liberty  of  any  one,  yet  it  is  a  source  ol 
deep  consolation  to  those  who  make  use  of  it. 
Encourage  therefore  the  existence  of  Faith.  In 
the  enjoyment  of  your  high  posts,  your  power, 
and  your  fortunes,  consider  that  the  majority  of 
men  whom  you  govern  are  obliged  to  ask  God  day 
by  day  for  bread,  and  only  obtain  it  by  a  kind  of 
miracle.  Faith  is  as  it  were  already  bread  ;  it 
assists  the  poor  to  eat  even  black  bread,  it  aids  them 
to  wait  for  it  patiently,  when  the  hour  is  passed  at 
v.  hich  it  ought  to  come.  And  when  God  appears 
willing  to  open  one  of  those  places  of  grace  where 
Faith  flows  more  abundantly  and  affords  prompter 
succour,  do  not  close  them.  You  yourselves  will 
be  the  first  to  require  them.  It  is  there  you  will 
be  able  to  effect  a  saving  in  the  expenses  incident  to 
hospitals  and  prisons." 

Far  different  were  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of 
Baron  Massy.  After  having  exacted  in  the  name 
of  Power  that  terrible  tax  of  blood,  which  is  termed 
the  Conscnption,  he  addressed  an  official  speech  to 
the  Mayors  of  the  canton.  He  well  knew  how  to 
invoke  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  interest  of  the 
Church  and  that  of  the  State,  the  Pope  and  the 
Emperor,  while  touching  on  the  subject  of  Appari- 
n* 


»50  OUR  LADY  OF  LOTJRDEB. 

tions  and  Miracles.     To  each  of  his  phrases,  peri 
phrases  and  paraphrases,  he  began  with  piety  and 
ended  with  the  administration.     The  premises  were 
those  of  a  theologian,  the  conclusions  those  of  a 
iVefect. 

"  The  Prefect  has  shown  to  the  Mayors,"  said  tne 
organ  of  the  Prefecture  on  the  following  day,  "  in 
what  points  the  scenes  which  had  been  enacted 
afforded  matter  for  regret,  and  how  much  disrepute 
they  tended  to  throw  upon  religion.  He  particularly 
applied  himself  to  make  them  understand  that  the 
fact  of  the  formation  of  an  oratory  at  the  Grotto,  a 
fact  sufficiently  established  by  religious  emblems  and 
tapers  being  placed  there,  was  an  attack  made  on  the 
ecclesiastical  and  civil  authority,  an  illegality  which  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  Administration  to  put  a  stop  to, 
since,  according  to  the  express  terms  of  the  law,  no 
public  chapel  or  oratory  can  be  founded  wit/tout  the 
authorization  of  the  Government,  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese." 

"  My  sentiments,"  the  devout  functionary  had 
added,  "ought  not  to  be  suspected  by  any  one. 
Every  one,  in  this  department,  knows  my  profound 
respect  for  Religion.  I  have  given,  I  think,  suffi- 
cient  proofs  of  it  to  render  it  impossible  to  put 
a  bad  interpretation  on  my  intentions. 

"  It  will  causa  you,  therefore,  no  surprise  to  learn, 
Gentlemen,  that  I  have  ordered  the  Commissary  of 
Police  to  remove  all  objects  deposited  at  the  Grotto 
and  transfer  them  to  the  Mayoralty,  where  they 
will  be  placed  at  the  disposition  of  their  rightful 
owners. 

"  I  have  further  directed  that  all  persons  claiming 
to  see  Visions  shall  be  arrested  and  taken  to  Tarbes 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE3.  251 

at  the  public  expense,  to  be  there  placed  under  medi- 
cal treatment,  and  I  shall  see  that  all  those  who  have 
helped  to  spread  the  absurd  rumors  now  in  circula- 
tion, are  prosecuted  as  propagators  of  false  news" 

All  this  happened  on  the  fourth  of  May.  It  was 
thus  that  the  very  pious  Prefect  inaugurated  his 
Month  of  Mary. 

These  words  were  received  "  with  unanimous  en- 
thusiasm" if  we  are  to  believe  the  organ  of  the  Pre- 
fecture. 

The  real  truth  was,  that  some  disapproved  most 
strongly  the  violent  measures  to  which  the  authori- 
ties were  pledging  themselves,  while  others,  who 
belonged  to  the  sect  of  Free-thinkers,  flattered 
themselves  that  the  hand  of  the  Prefect  would  be 
sufficient  to  put  the  drag  on  the  progress  of  events. 

Outside,  the  philosophers  and  savants  were  in 
high  glee.  The  Lavedan,  which  had  maintained 
absolute  silence  for  nearly  two  months,  owing  to  its 
having  been  overwhelmed  by  the  evidence  adduced, 
recovered  its  powers  sufficiently  to  intone  a  dithy- 
ramb to  the  praise  and  glory  of  the  Prefect. 

Immediately  on  the  conclusion  of  his  speech,  the 
Head  of  the  Department  quitted  the  town,  leaving 
his  orders  to  be  executed  in  his  absence. 

The  Prefect's  measures  completed  each  other. 
By  the  arrest  of  Bernadette,  he  attacked  the  cause 
of  trouble ;  by  having  the  various  objects  removed 
from  the  Grotto,  he  attacked  its  effect.  If,  as  was 
highly  probable,  the  ardent  populations  of  the  dis- 
trict, wounded  in  their  freedom  of  belief,  their  right 
of  praying  and  their  religion,  attempted  any  resist- 
ance or  committed  any  acts  of  disorder,  the  squad 
ron  of  cavalry,  summoned  in  all  dispatch,  would 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUBDB8. 

hasten  to  the  spot,  and,  placing  everything  in  a 
state  of  siege,  would  refute  Superstition  with  the 
all-powerful  argument  of  the  sword.  As  M.  Massy 
had  just  transformed  a  question  purely  religious 
into  one  dependent  on  the  Administration,  he  was 
equally  prepared  to  transform  the  latter  into  one  of 
military  interference. 

The  Mayor  and  the  Commissary  of  Police,  each 
in  his  own  department,  were  charged  with  the 
execution  of  the  Prefect's  wishes.  The  first  was 
ordered  to  have  Bernadette  arrested,  the  second  to 
repair  in  person  to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle  and  to 
despoil  the  Grotto  of  whatever  the  piety  or  grati- 
tude of  the  faithful  had  deposited  within  its  pre- 
cincts. 

Let  us  follow  the  progress  of  both,  beginning 
with  the  Mayor,  as  is  due  to  his  higher  functions. 

XV. 

ALTHOUGH  M.  Lacad6,  Mayor  of  Lourdes, 
avoided  giving  his  own  opinion  on  the  extraordi- 
nary events  which  were  occurring,  he  had  been 
deeply  impressed  by  them,  and  it  was  not  without 
a  certain  degree  of  terror  that  he  saw  the  Adminis- 
tration having  recourse  to  such  violent  measures. 
He  was  in  a  terrible  state  of  perplexity.  He  did 
not  know  what  attitude  the  people  might  assume. 
It  is  true  the  Prefect  had  announced  the  possibility 
of  sending  a  squadron  of  cavalry  to  Lourdes  to 
maintain  the  tranquillity  of  the  town  when  the 
arrest  should  have  taken  place ;  but  that  very  fact 
caused  him  no  little  uneasiness.  The  supernatural 
aspect  of  the  question  and  the  Miracles  also  filled 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOUEDE8.  253 

him  with  alarm.  He  did  not  know  exactly  how  to 
act,  placed  as  he  was  between  the  authority  of  the 
Prefect,  the  force  of  the  people  and  the  power  from 
on  high.  He  would  have  gladly  made  some  com- 
promise between  earth  and  heaven.  To  keep  up 
his  courage,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  Procureur 
Imperial,  M.  Dutour ;  and  the  two  went  together  to 
the  residence  of  the  Cur£  of  Lourdes  to  communi- 
cate to  him  the  order  for  the  arrest  of  Bernadette 
which  had  emanated  from  the  Prefecture.  They 
explained  to  the  Abbe  Peyramale  how,  accord- 
ing to  the  wording  of  the  law  of  June  3,  1838,  the 
Prefect  was  acting  in  the  plenitude  of  his  legal 
rights. 

The  Priest  was  unable  to  restrain  himself  from  a 
burst  of  indignation  at  the  cruel  iniquity  of  such  a 
proceeding,  though  it  might  be  actually  possible  in 
conformity  with  some  one  of  the  innumerable  laws 
produced  at  some  time  or  other  by  the  second- 
hand Lycurguses  who  have  been  cast  on  the  strand 
of  the  Palais-Bourbon  by  the  flowing  and  ebbing 
tides  of  our  twelve  or  fifteen  political  revolutions. 

"  This  child  is  innocent !"  he  exclaimed,  "  and  the 
proof  of  it  is,  that,  in  your  capacity  of  Magistrate, 
Sir,  you  have  never  been  able,  in  spite  of  your 
various  interrogations,  to  find  a  pretext  for  an 
attempt  at  prosecution.  You  know  that  there  is 
not  a  Tribunal  in  France  but  would  acknowledge 
her  innocence,  which  is  as  clear  as  the  sun  at  noon- 
day ;  that  there  is  not  a  Procureur-Gemral,  who 
would  not  only,  under  such  circumstances,  declare 
this  arrest  to  be  monstrous  and  have  it  cancelled 
but  would  even  protest  against  a  simple  action 
at  law." 


254  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDS8. 

"  This  being  the  case  the  Magistracy  does  not  ad 
in  the  matter,"  replied  M.  Dutour.  "  The  Prefect, 
on  the  report  furnished  by  the  medical  men,  has 
Bernadette  shut  up  on  the  plea  of  derangement, 
and  this  for  her  own  good,  in  order  that  ner  cure 
may  be  effected.  It  is  a  simple  administrative 
measure,  which  has  nothing  to  do  with  Religion, 
since  neither  the  Bishop  nor  the  Clergy  have  pro- 
nounced any  opinion  officially  on  all  these  events, 
which  are  taking  place  entirely  independently  of 
them." 

"  Such  a  measure,"  rejoined  the  Priest,  becoming 
warm  as  the  discussion  proceeded,  "  would  be  the 
most  odious  of  persecutions;  so  much  the  more 
odious  from  the  fact  that  it  assumes  the  mask  of 
hypocrisy,  affects  to  wish  to  afford  protection,  and 
conceals  itself  beneath  the  cloak  of  legality,  while 
its  real  object  is  to  strike  a  blow  at  a  poor  defence- 
less being.  If  the  Bishop  and  Clergy,  including 
myself,  are  waiting  for  more  light  to  be  thrown  on 
these  occurrences,  in  order  to  pronounce  on  their 
supernatural  character,  we,  at  least,  know  enough 
to  judge  of  Bernadette's  sincerity,  and  the  sound- 
ness of  her  intellectual  faculties.  And  since  your 
two  medical  men  do  not  certify  the  existence  of  any 
cerebral  affection,  in  what  respect  are  they  more 
competent  to  judge  of  madness  or  good  sense 
than  any  one  of  the  thousand  visitors  who  have 
put  questions  to  the  child,  and  who  have  all  agreed 
in  admiring  the  entire  lucidity  and  normal  charac- 
ter of  her  mind.  Your  doctors  themselves  dare 
not  make  a  positive  affirmation,  and  only  conclude 
with  a  hypothesis.  The  Prefect  cannot  have  Ber- 
nadette arrested  on  any  plea  whatever." 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOUUDSS.  255 

**  It  is  a  legal  proceeding." 

"  It  is  unlawful.  As  Priest,  as  the  Curi-doyen  of 
the  town  of  Lourdes,  I  have  a  duty  towards  all, 
and  more  especially  the  weakest.  If  I  saw  an  arm- 
ed man  attack  a  child,  I  would  defend  that  child  at 
the  peril  of  my  life,  for  I  know  the  duty  of  protect 
ing  others,  which  is  incumbent  on  a  good  Pastor 
Be  assured,  I  would  act  in  the  same  manner  even 
if  the  man  were  a  Prefect,  and  his  weapon  were  a 
bad  clause  of  a  bad  law.  Go,  then,  and  tell  M. 
Massy  that  his  Gendarmes  will  find  me  on  the 
threshold  of  the  door  of  this  poor  family,  and  that 
they  will  have  to  lay  me  low,  to  pass  over  my 
body  and  trample  me  under  their  feet  before  the}' 
touch  a  hair  of  this  little  girl's  head." 

"  However" 

"  There  is  no  however  in  the  case.  Examine, 
institute  investigations ;  you  are  at  full  liberty  to 
do  so,  and  everybody  invites  you  to  do  so.  But  if, 
instead  of  this,  you  wish  to  persecute,  if  you  wish 
to  strike  the  innocent,  know  well  that  before  you 
reach  the  last,  and  the  least  among  my  flock,  it  is 
with  me  you  must  begin." 

The  Priest  had  risen  from  his  chair.  His  tall 
figure,  his  strongly-marked  features,  the  plenitude 
of  strength  for  which  he  was  remarkable,  his  reso- 
lute gestures,  and  his  countenance  burning  with 
emotion,  supplied  a  commentary  to  his  words  and 
stamped  their  character  upon  them. 

The  Procure ur  and  the  Mayor  were  silent  for  an 
instant.  They  afterwards  mentioned  the  measures 
relative  to  the  Grotto. 

"As  far  as  the  Grotto  is  concerned,"  replied  the 
Priest,  "  if  the  Prefect  wishes,  in  the  name  of  the  lawi 


356  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

of  the  Nation,  and  in  that  of  his  own  private  piety 
to  strip  it  of  the  various  objects  which  innumerable 
visitors  have  deposited  there  in  honor  of  the  Bless- 
ed Virgin — let  him  do  so.  Believers  will  be  sorry 
and  even  indignant.  But  let  him  not  be  alarmed  ; 
the  inhabitants  of  this  country  know  the  respect 
due  to  Authority,  even  when  it  strays  from  the 
right  path.  It  is  said  that  at  Tarbes  a  squadron  ol 
cavalry,  with  their  horses  saddled  and  bridled,  are 
only  waiting  a  signal  from  the  Prefect  to  hasten  to 
Lourdes.  Let  the  squadron  dismount. 

"  However  warm  the  beads  of  my  people  may  be, 
however  ulcerated  their  hearts,  they  listen  to  my 
voice,  and  I  answer  for  their  tranquillity  without 
any  armed  force.  With  an  armed  force,  I  am  ru 
longer  responsible  for  them." 

XVI. 

THE  attitude  of  energy  assumed  by  the  Curd  of 
Lourdes,  who  was  known  to  be  incapable  of  giving 
way  when  what  he  considered  to  be  his  duty  was 
at  stake,  introduced  into  the  question  an  element 
hitherto  overlooked,  though  it  might  very  easily 
have  been  foreseen. 

In  the  case  of  any  measure  emanating  from  the 
Administration,  the  intervention  of  the  Procureur 
Imperial  was  not  required,  and  it  was  only  from 
friendly  motives  that  M.  Dutour  had  accompanied 
M.  Lacad6  to  the  residence  of  the  Abb£  Peyramale. 
All  the  onus  of  the  decision  to  be  taken  weighed, 
therefore,  on  the  Mayor. 

M.  Lacadd  was  perfectly  certain  that  the  Cure  of 
Lourdes  would  infallibly  act  as  he  had  sai  1.  As  to 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  257 

attempting  a  surprise  and  arresting  Bernadette 
suddenly,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Pastor,  it 
was  not  to  be  thought  of,  now  that  the  Abbe  Peyra- 
male  was  forewarned  and  had  his  eyes  open.  Wo 
have  just  mentioned  the  impressions  which  the 
Mayor  experienced  in  presence  of  the  Supernatural 
rising  all  at  once  before  him.  The  apparent  im- 
passibility of  the  municipal  magistrate  did  but 
mask  the  excessive  anxiety  and  agitation  of  the 
real  man. 

He  communicated  to  the  Prefect  the  con  versa 
tion  which  M.  Dutour  and  himself  had  just  haa 
with  the  Cure- doyen,  as  also  the  behavior  and 
words  of  the  man  of  God.  The  arrest  of  Berna- 
dette, he  added,  might,  further,  in  the  then  state  of 
public  feeling,  rouse  the  town  and  provoke  an  in- 
dignant revolt  against  the  constituted  authorities. 
As  to  himself,  in  consequence  of  the  determination 
so  formally  expressed  by  the  Cure,  and  fearing  the 
terrible  consequences  which  might  ensue,  he  re- 
gretted to  find  himself  forced  to  refuse — even  if  he 
were  obliged  to  resign  the  honors  of  the  Mayor- 
alty— to  take  any  personal  part  in  the  execution  oi 
such  a  measure.  It  was  for  the  Prefect,  if  he  saw 
good,  to  act  himself,  and  to  have  the  arrest  effected 
by  a  direct  order  to  the  Gendarmerie. 

XVII. 

WHILE  Bernadette's  lot  and  liberty  were  subject 
to  such  uncertainty,  M.  Jacomet,  in  full  uniform 
and  wearing  his  scarf  of  office,  was  making  the  ne 
cessary  preparations  to  execute,  at  the  Rocks  of 
Massabielle.  the  orders  of  the  Prefect. 


258  OUR  LADT   OF  LOURDES. 

The  report  that  Baron  Massy  had  enjoined  the 
spoliation  of  the  Grotto  had  spread  rapidly,  and 
had  caused  much  agitation  in  ever)'  quarter  of  the 
town.  The  entire  population  were  thrown  into  a 
state  ot  consternation,  as  if  in  the  presence  of  some 
monstrous  sacrilege. 

4<  The  Blessed  Virgin  has  condescended  to  de- 
scend among  us,"  they  said,  "  and  to  work  miracles, 
and  see  how  they  receive  her.  It  is  enough  to 
bring  down  the  wrath  of  heaven." 

The  coldest  hearts  were  stirred  with  emotion  ;  a 
mysterious  effervescence  displayed  itself  by  degrees 
among  the  people  and  continued  to  increase.  From 
its  very  commencement,  and  before  the  interview 
we  have  just  described,  the  Cur£  Peyramale  and 
the  Priests  of  the  town  had  suggested  to  all  words 
of  peace,  and  had  endeavored  to  calm  those  who 
were  most  irritated. 

"  Dear  friends,"  said  the  Clergy,  "  do  not  com- 
)romise  your  cause  by  disorders;  submit  your- 
selves to  the  law,  however  bad  it  may  be.  If  the 
Blessed  Virgin  takes  any  part  in  all  these  things, 
she  is  perfectly  capable  of  turning  them  all  to  her 
own  glory,  and  any  violence  on  your  part  would 
be  a  want  of  faith  towards  her  and  an  insult  to  her 
omnipotence.  Look  at  the  Martyrs;  did  they  re- 
volt against  the  Emperor  ?  They  owed  their  tri- 
umph to  the  very  fact  of  not  having  combated." 

The  moral  authority  of  the  Curd  was  great ;  but 
those  who  listened  to  him  were  hot-headed,  and 
their  hearts  were  indignant.  Everything  depended 
on  the  merest  chance. 

The  religious  objects  and  ex-votos  deposited  al 
the  Grotto  formed  a  considerable  mass,  and  were 


OUR  LAD7   OF  LOURDES. 

too  heavy  to  be  transferred  to  the  town  by  hand. 
M.  Jacomet  repaired  to  the  Paste,  kept  by  M. 
Barioze,  to  procure  a  cart  and  horses. 

"  I  do  not  lend  my  horses  for  such  purposes/ 
replied  the  Post-master. 

"  But  you  cannot  refuse  your  horses  to  any  one 
who  is  willing  to  pay  for  them  !"  exclaimed  M.  Ja- 
comet. 

"  My  horses  are  intended  for  the  service  of  the 
Post,  and  not  for  business  of  this  nature.  I  do  not 
wish  to  have  anything  to  do  with  this  proceeding. 
Bring  an  action  against  me,  if  it  suits  you  to  do  so. 
I  refuse  to  let  you  have  my  horses." 

The  Commissary  went  elsewhere.  At  all  the 
hotels,  at  all  the  livery  stables,  which  were  pretty 
numerous  at  Lourdes,  owing  to  its  proximity  to  the 
different  bathing  places,  at  the  houses  of  private 
individuals,  to  whom  he  addressed  himself  in  de- 
spair, he  met  with  similar  refusals.  His  situation 
was  truly  a  cruel  one.  The  population,  agitated 
and  quivering  with  emotion,  watched  him  thus  go- 
ing, to  no  purpose,  from  house  to  house,  and  were 
spectators  of  his  successive  disappointments.  He 
heard  the  murmurs,  the  laughter  and  the  bitter 
gibes  of  the  crowd.  The  eyes  of  all  scowled  upon 
him  as  he  pursued  his  painful  and  fruitless  course 
icross  the  squares  and  through  the  streets  of  the 
town.  In  vain  did  he  successively  increase  the 
sum  of  money  he  offered  for  the  loan  of  one  horse 
and  cart.  He  had  been  refused  it  by  the  very 
poorest,  though  he  had  offered  as  much  as  thirty 
francs,  and  the  distance  to  the  Grotto  was  incon- 
siderable. 

The  crowd,  on  hearing  the  sum  of  thirty  franos 


26o  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

mentioned,  compared  it  with  the  thirty  pieces  of 
silver. 

At  length,  at  the  house  of  a  farrier,  he  found  a 
girl  who,  for  the  sum  offered,  lent  him  what  he 
needed. 

When  the  multitude  saw  him  issue  from  this 
house  with  the  cart  and  horses,  they  were  the  more 
indignant,  as  the  venal  complaisance  of  the  pro- 
prietor could  not  be  excused  by  the  urgency  of 
want.  The  family  were  not  poor. 

Jacomet  proceeded  in  the  direction  of  the  Grot- 
to. The  Sergents  de  Ville  drove  the  cart.  An  im- 
mense crowd  followed  them.  They  were  silent, 
sombre  and  uneasy,  as  if  they  felt  in  themselves 
the  accumulation  of  the  awful  electricity  of  a  thun- 
der-storm. 

In  this  manner  they  reached  the  Rocks  of  Mas- 
sabielle.  As  the  cart  could  not  be  driven  up  to 
the  very  spot,  it  was  halted  at  some  little  dis- 
tance. 

Under  the  vaulted  roof  of  the  Grotto  there  were 
tapers  burning  here  and  there,  placed  in  candle- 
sticks, adorned  with  moss  and  ribbons.  Crosses, 
statues  of  the  Virgin,  religious  pictures,  necklaces 
and  jewels  of  various  kinds  rested  on  the  ground  or 
in  the  cavities  of  the  rock.  In  certain  places,  car- 
pets had  been  spread  under  the  images  of  the 
Mother  of  God.  Thousands  of  bouquets  had  been 
carried  there  in  honor  of  Mary  by  pious  hands,  and 
the  earliest  blossoms  of  the  month  of  flowers  dif- 
fused their  fragrance  and  embalmed  this  rural  sanct- 
uary. 

In  one  or  two  willow  baskets  and  on  the  ground 
there  glittered  copper,  silver,  or  gold  piece^ 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  261 

amounting  altogether  to  several  thousand  francs,  the 
first  spontaneous  gift  of  the  faithful  towards  the 
erection,  on  this  spot,  of  a  temple  to  the  Immaculate 
Virgin  —  a  pious  offering,  whose  sacred  character 
had  struck  with  respect  the  audacity  even  of  crim- 
inals, and  in  which,  in  spite  of  the  facilities  afforded 
by  night  and  solitude,  no  robber  up  to  that  time 
had  dared  to  lay  a  sacrilegious  hand. 

M.  Jacomet  cleared  the  balustrade  constructed 
by  the  workmen  of  Lourdes,  and  entered  the 
Grotto.  He  appeared  agitated.  The  Sergents  de 
Ville  were  near  him ;  the  crowd  which  had  fol- 
lowed him  watched  him,  but  did  not  utter  any  cries. 
There  was  something  alarming  in  the  outward 
tranquillity  of  this  multitude. 

The  Commissary  began  by  securing  the  money. 
Then,  extinguishing  the  candles,  one  by  one,  and 
collecting  the  chaplets,  crosses,  carpets,  and  various 
articles  with  which  the  Grotto  was  filled,  he  handed 
them  over  to  the  Sergents  de  Ville  to  stow  away  in 
the  cart.  The  poor  fellows  seemed  to  be  disgusted 
with  the  business  they  were  engaged  in,  and  dis 
played  much  feeling  of  sorrow  and  respect  as  they 
carried  to  the  cart  all  the  articles  of  which  Jacomet 
stripped  the  Grotto,  honored  and  sanctified  but  a 
short  time  since  by  a  visit  from  the  Mother  of  God 
the  gushing  forth  of  the  Fountain,  and  by  the  cure 
of  the  sick. 

Owing  to  the  cart  being  at  some  distance  from 
the  Grotto,  all  this  occupied  some  time.  M.  Jaco- 
met called  a  little  boy  who  happened  to  be  there,  a 
fittle  in  front  of  the  crowd. 

"  Here,  take  this  picture  and  carry  it  to  the  cart." 
The  little  boy  stretched  out  his  hands  to  take  hold 


362  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDB8. 

of  the  fra  ne.     Another  child  at  his  side  called  out 
to  him : 

"  Wretch !  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?  God  will 
punish  you." 

The  child  started  back  in  terror,  and  no  fresh 
order  on  the  part  of  the  Commissary  could  indues 
him  to  come  to  the  front  again. 

There  was  something —  I  know  not  what  —  con- 
vulsive  in  the  movements  of  the  Commissary 
When  he  picked  up  the  first  bouquet,  it  was  his  in 
tention,  as  he  looked  upon  it  as  a  thing  of  no  value, 
to  throw  it  into  the  Gave,  but  a  vague  murmur  in 
the  crowd  arrested  him  in  the  act.  He  appeared  to 
understand  that  the  measure  of  the  popular  patience 
was  full  to  the  brim,  and  that  the  least  incident 
might  cause  it  to  overflow.  The  bouquets  were 
then,  with  all  the  other  articles,  transferred  to  the 
cart. 

A  moment  afterwards  a  statuette  of  the  Virgin 
fell  to  pieces  in  the  hands  of  the  Commissary,  and 
this  little  incident  produced  once  more  a  terrible 
sensation  in  the  crowd. 

When  the  Grotto  was  stripped  of  every  thing, 
M.  Jacomet  wished  to  carry  off  even  the  balustrade. 
For  this  purpose  he  required  an  axe.  Some  men 
vho  were  shaping  wood  in  a  saw-pit  attached  to 
'A.  Laffite's  mill  refused  successively  to  lend  him 
one.  Another  workman,  who  was  employed  at 
tome  little  distance  from  the  others,  dared  not  resist 
aim  and  suffered  him  to  take  his  axe. 

M.  Jacomet  took  the  business  in  hand  himself  and 
struck  the  balustrade  several  biows  with  the  axe. 
As  it  was  not  strongly  made,  it  immediately 
yielded. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB.  263 

The  sight  of  this  act  of  material  violence,  the 
spectacle  of  this  man  striking  the  wood  with  the 
axe,  produced  more  effect  on  the  multitude  than 
any  thing  that  had  occurred  before  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  menacing  explosion.  The  Gave  was 
close  at  hand,  deep  and  rapid  in  its  course,  and  a 
few  moments  of  egarement  would  have  been  suffi- 
cient to  have  induced  the  crowd  —  in  one  of  those 
irresistible  paroxysms  of  rage  to  which  crowds  are 
sometimes  subject  —  to  hurl  the  unfortunate  Com- 
missary into  its  waters. 

Jacomet  turned  round  towards  them  and  showed 
his  countenance  pale  and  distracted. 

"  What  I  am  doing,"  he  said,  with  apparent  re- 
gret, "  I  am  not  doing  of  my  own  accord,  and  it  is 
v/ith  the  greatest  regret  that  I  find  myself  obliged 
to  put  it  into  execution.  I  am  acting  in  obedience 
to  the  orders  of  the  Prefect.  I  must  obey  the 
higher  authorities,  however  much  it  may  cost  me. 
I  am  not  responsible  for  this  and  you  must  not  bear 
any  grudge  against  me." 

Some  voices  from  among  the  crowd  exclaimed : 

"  Let  us  remain  calm  and  abstain  from  violence  ; 
let  us  leave  everything  in  the  hands  of  God." 

The  advice  and  activity  of  the  Clergy  produced 
their  fruits,  and  there  was  not  any  disorder.  The 
Commissary  and  the  Sergents  de  Ville  drove  the  cart 
without  any  obstacle  to  the  Mayoralty,  where  they 
deposited  all  the  articles  they  had  collected  at  the 
Grotto.  The  money  was  handed  over  to  the 
Mayor. 

In  the  evening,  for  the  purpose  of  protesting 
against  the  Prefect's  measures,  an  innumerable  mul- 
titude repaired  to  the  Grotto,  which  was  suddenly 


264  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUSDE8. 

filled  with  flowers  and  illuminated.  Only,  in  order 
to  obviate  the  seizure  of  the  tapers  by  the  Police, 
should  they  come  for  that  purpose,  every  one  held 
his  own  in  his  hand,  and,  on  his  return,  carried  it 
back  to  his  own  house. 

The  next  day  much  sensation  was  caused  among 
the  people  by  the  occurrence  of  two  events. 

The  girl,  who  had  lent  M.  Jacomet  the  cart  and 
horse,  fell  from  the  top  of  a  hay-loft  and  broke  one 
of  her  ribs. 

The  same  day,  the  man  who  had  lent  the  Com- 
missary the  axe  for  the  destruction  of  the  balustrade 
at  the  Grotto,  had  both  his  feet  crushed  by  the  fall 
of  a  beam  which  he  wished  to  place  on  his  bench. 

To  the  eyes  of  the  Free-thinkers  this  appeared  to 
be  an  irritating  and  untoward  coincidence.  The 
multitude  regarded  the  double  accident  as  a  punish- 
ment from  Heaven. 

XVIII. 

THESE  trifling  incidents  caused  but  little  annoy- 
ance to  the  Prefect.  He  had  as  little  faith  in  mala- 
dies as  he  had  in  cures  proceeding  from  Heaven. 

The  attitude  assumed  by  the  Abbe  Peyramale  — 
which  though  not  menacing  was  inflexible  —  and 
his  determination  to  take  a  personal  part  in  protect- 
ing Bernadette  against  the  projected  arrest,  troubled 
Baron  Massy  much  more  than  any  signs  of  heavenly 
wrath.  God,  in  a  word,  made  him  less  uneasy  than 
the  Cure. 

The  refusal  of  M.  Lacadd  to  proceed  to  that 
violent  measure;  his  offer  of  resignation  —  a  most 
singular  circumstance  on  the  part  of  so  timid  a 


OUR  LADY  Of  LOURDE3.  26$ 

functionary  —  the  visible  dissatisfaction  01  the  May- 
ors  of  the  canton,  with  the  speech  made  at  the 
Council  of  Revision  ;  the  symptoms  of  serious  effer- 
vescence with  which  the  removal  of  the  ex-votos 
from  the  Grotto  had  been  received  ;  the  incertitude 
as  to  whether  the  Gendarmes  and  soldiers,  who,  as 
regarded  Bernadette,  participated  in  the  general 
enthusiasm  and  veneration,  would  passively  obey 
the  orders  they  might  receive  —  all  this  supplied 
the  Prefect  with  food  for  reflection.  He  plainly 
saw  that,  in  the  midst  of  so  many  unpleasant  con- 
junctures, the  incarceration  of  the  youthful  Seer 
might  be  attended  with  the  most  disastrous  conse 
quences. 

It  was  not  that  he  would  not  willingly  have 
braved  an  outbreak.  Some  of  the  details  we  have 
given  would  lead  us  to  imagine  that  such  had  been 
the  object  of  his  secret  wishes.  But  a  general  ris- 
ing of  the  population,  preceded  by  the  resignation 
of  the  Mayor,  complicated  by  the  personal  interfer- 
ence of  one  of  the  most  universally  respected  Priests 
in  the  Diocese,  followed,  in  all  probability  by  a 
complaint  to  the  Council  of  State  of  arbitrary  se- 
questration, and  accompanied  by  energetic  protesta- 
tions from  the  Catholic,  or  simply  independent 
portion  of  the  Press,  assumed  a  serious  character 
which  could  not  fail  of  forcibly  striking  a  man  of 
so  much  intelligence  and  attachment  to  the  duties 
of  his  office  as  Baron  Massy. 

It  was,  however,  a  bitter  trial  to  the  proud  Pre- 
fect to  pause  in  the  execution  of  this  radical  meas- 
ure,  which  he  had  so  publicly  announced  on  the 
eve  of  the  Council  of  Revision ;  and  assuredly  he 
could  not  have  brought  himself  to  it,  if  the  report 


266  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUSDE8. 

furnished  by  the  medical  men  had  certified  tho 
madness  or  hallucination  of  the  youthful  Seer,  in- 
stead of  adducing  a  simple  and  hesitating  hypothe- 
sis. Had  Bernadette  really  been  suffering  from  an 
attack  of  mental  alienation,  nothing  would  have 
been  easier  for  the  Prefect  than  to  have  ordered  a 
second  examination ;  nothing  more  easy  than  to 
have  the  child's  cerebral  disease  attested  by  two 
other  doctors  chosen  from  among  the  scientific  no- 
tabilities of  the  place,  and  with  sufficient  authority, 
as  men  of  learning,  to  impose  their  decision  on  pub- 
lic opinion.  But  M  Massy,  being  fully  acquainted 
with  the  interrogatories  to  which  Bernadette  had 
been  submitted,  was  aware  that  it  was  impossible  to 
find  any  medical  man  in  his  right  senses  who  would 
not  acknowledge  and  declare,  as  every  one  else  did, 
the  child's  perfect  possession  of  reason,  her  upright- 
ness of  mind  and  entire  good  faith.  Before  the 
evidence  of  such  a  situation,  in  presence  of  the 
moral  and  almost  material  impossibilities  which 
unexpectedly  stood  up  before  him,  the  wary  Pre- 
fect, notwithstanding  his  notorious  obstinacy,  found 
himself  obliged  to  pause  and  proceed  no  further. 
The  force  of  circumstances  condemned  him  to  in- 
action. As  to  entirely  retracing  his  steps  and  re- 
voking the  measure  which  had  already  been  put 
mto  execution  publicly  by  Jacomet  at  the  Rocks  of 
Massabielle,  such  a  solution  of  the  difficulty  could 
never  once  enter  Baron  Massy's  mind.  The  remo- 
val of  the  various  objects  from  the  Grotto  having 
been  accomplished,  was  persisted  in.  But  the  youth 
ful  Seer  remained  free,  and  doubtless  wholly  uncon- 
scious, between  the  time  of  her  morning  and  night 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOUSDSS. 

prayers,  of  the  storm  which  had  passed  over  her 
head,  but  which  had  not  burst. 

The  civil  authority,  by  this  abortive  and  never 
repeated  attempt,  certified,  itself,  the  abso  ute  im- 
possibility of  proving  Bernadette  to  be  laboring 
under  the  slightest  cerebral  derangement.  By  leav- 
ing the  youthful  Seer  at  large,  after  having  attempt- 
ed to  shut  her  up,  official  power,  in  spite  of  itself 
paid  public  homage  to  the  entire  soundness  of  her 
reason  and  her  intelligence.  By  these  badly  aimed 
blows,  Unbelief  wounded  herself  by  her  own  weap- 
ons, and  served  the  very  cause  she  claimed  to  at- 
tack. Let  us  not,  however,  accuse  her  of  clumsi- 
ness. It  must  be  difficult  to  struggle  against  evi- 
dence, and  in  a  combat  of  such  a  nature  the  gross- 
est blunders  are  inevitable. 

However,  if  M.  Massy  modified  in  some  respects 
the  outline  of  his  projects,  he  persisted  invincibly 
in  the  ultimate  object  of  his  designs.  The  only 
concession  he  would  sometimes  make  to  the  course 
of  events  was  to  abandon  a  means  acknowledged 
to  be  useless  and  dangerous,  in  order  to  adopt  one 
apparently  more  adapted  to  his  purpose,  and  to 
outflank  the  difficulties  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
crush  or  break  through.  In  a  word,  if  he  changed 
his  tactics,  his  resolutions  remained  unchanged- 
He  did  not  retreat,  he  endeavored  to  out-manoeuvre 
his  foe. 

Now  the  incarceration  of  Bernadette  was  but  a 
means.  The  important  principle  and  ultimate  ob- 
ject was  the  radical  overthrow  of  Superstition,  and 
the  final  defeat  of  the  Supernatural. 

M.  Massy  by  no  means  ceased  to  hope.  He  had 
the  "  full  assurance,"  he  loftily  observed,  of  shortly 


268  OUR  LADY  Of  LOURDES. 

coming  to  an  end  of  the  increasing  difficulties  ol  his 
situation.  That  he,  a  Prefect  of  the  Empire,  a 
Baron,  a  Massy  should  be  vanquished  by  the  nur- 
sery tales  of  a  childish  shepherd-girl,  and  confound- 
ed by  the  phantom  of  a  chimerical  Apparition, 
would  have  been  insupportable  to  his  pride,  and 
appeared  impossible  to  his  genius. 

If  he  was  therefore  compelled  to  give  up  the 
idea  of  having  poor  Bernadette  shut  up  on  the 
plea  of  insanity,  in  spite  of  the  speech  he  delivered 
on  the  4th  of  May,  he  was  only  the  more  on  that 
account  determined  to  put  a  stop  somehow  or  other 
to  the  progress  and  encroachments  of  Fanaticism. 

The  doctrines  and  explanations  which,  for  the  last 
few  days,  had  become  the  favorite  theme  of  the 
Free-thinkers  of  those  southern  regions,  suggested 
to  his  mind,  which  was  already  in  a  state  of  embar- 
rassment, a  new  method  which  appeared  to  him 
truly  decisive. 

In  order  to  understand  how  the  Prefect  came  in 
a  certain  way  to  change  his  plan  of  attack,  it  would 
be  well  for  us  to  glance  at  what  was  passing  at  that 
moment  in  the  camp  of  those  whose  minds  were 
opposed  to  Christianity. 


SIXTH  BOOK. 
I. 

r  I  THE  enemies  of  Superstition  had  lost  consider 
J_  able  ground  in  their  desperate  struggle  against 
the  events,  which,  for  the  last  eleven  or  twelve 
weeks  had  brought  their  philosophy  to  bay.  As  it 
was  impossible  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  Spring, 
whose  limpid  waters  were  flowing  magnificently 
before  the  eyes  of  the  astonished  people,  so  it  was 
becoming  impossible  longer  to  deny  the  reality  of 
the  cures  which  were  effected,  every  hour  and  every 
where,  by  the  use  of  this  mysterious  water. 

At  first  they  had  shrugged  their  shoulders  at  the 
earliest  cures,  confining  themselves  to  denying 
them  purely  and  simply,  and  to  refusing,  with  their 
usual  prejudice,  to  submit  them  to  any  kind  of  in- 
vestigation. But  the  spirit  of  Incredulity  had  been 
very  soon  outflanked  by  the  multiplicity  of  those 
admirable  cures,  of  which  we  have  only  been  able 
to  relate  or  point  out  the  smallest  number.  Facts 
obtruded  themselves  on  their  attention.  They  be- 
came so  numerous  and  striking  that  it  was  neces- 
sary, at  all  cost,  either  to  yield  to  the  Miracle,  or 
discover  some  natural  way  of  accounting  for  these 
extrordinary  phenomena. 


2/O  OUS  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 

The  Free-thinkers  then  plainly  saw  that  unless 
they  surrendered  their  arms  or  rejected  the  clear 
est  evidence,  it  was  urgent  upon  them  to  initiate 
some  rapid  evolutions  and  to  contrive  some  differ- 
ent tactics. 

The  most  intelligent  among  this  little  band  found 
i.hat  they  were  already  somewhat  late  in  the  field, 
and  reproached  themselves  with  the  gross  blunder 
they  had  originally  committed  in  denying  prema- 
turely and  without  investigation,  facts  which  had 
Stnce  become  patent  and  perfectly  established,  such 
as  the  gushing-forth  of  the  Spring  and  the  cures  of 
many  who  had  been  notoriously  pronounced  in- 
curable, but  who  were  now  to  be  seen  by  every 
om,,  going  about  the  streets  of  the  town  in  perfect 
health.  What  made  the  evil  almost  irreparable 
was,  that  these  unfortunate  denials  of  facts,  since 
Amply  verified,  were  authentically  and  officially  cer- 
tified In  all  the  journals  of  the  Department. 

II. 

THE  great  majority  of  cur?s  effected  by  the 
-«vater  c»l  Massabielle,  were  char  — terized  by  a  rapid- 
ity,  nay  suddenness,  which  plainly  indicated  the 
immediate  agency  of  sovereign  power.  There  were, 
howevei,  some  which  did  not  present  this  typical 
and  undeniably  supernatural  character.  They  were 
effected  in  a  slow  and  progressive  manner,  owing 
to  the  more  or  less  frequent  applications  of  draughts 
or  lotions,  and  keeping  pace  with  the  ordinary 
march  of  natural  cures — however  miraculous  they 
might  be  in  their  original  principle. 

At  Gez,  a  village  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lourdes 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDBS.  271 

a  little  boy,  seven  years  of  age,  had  been  a  remark, 
able  instance  of  one  of  these  mixed  cures,  which 
any  one,  according  to  the  bent  of  his  mind,  might 
attribute  to  a  special  grace  proceeding  from  God, 
or  to  the  sole  efforts  of  Nature.  This  child,  whc 
was  called  Lasbareilles,  \vas  born  completely  de- 
formed with  a  double  curvature  of  the  back  anc 
oreast  bone. 

His  legs,  which  were  excessively  slendej?  and  al 
most  withered,  were  paralyzed,  owing  to  their  ex- 
treme weakness.  The  unfortunate  little  creature 
had  never  been  able  to  walk.  He  was  always  eitbe/ 
lying  or  sitting  down.  Whenever  it  was  necessary 
to  change  his  position,  his  mother  carried  him  in 
her  arms.  Sometimes,  however,  the  child,  resting 
himself  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  or  supported  by 
his  mother's  hand,  succeeded  in  standing  upright 
and  taking  a  few  steps  at  the  cost  of  violent  efforts 
and  immense  fatigue.  The  medical  man  of  the 
place  had  declared  his  inability  to  cure  him  ;  and 
seeing  that  the  little  fellow  suffered  from  essentially 
organic  rachitis,  no  remedy  had  been  applied  to  his 
case. 

The  parents  of  the  unfortunate  child,  having 
heard  the  miracles  at  Lourdes  mentioned  in  the 
course  of  conversation,  had  procured  some  of  the 
water  from  the  Grotto ;  and  during  the  space  of 
fifteen  days,  they  had,  in  three  several  instances, 
applied  lotions  to  the  body  of  the  child,  without 
any  favorable  result. 

Their  faith  was  not,  however,  on  that  account  dis 
couraged :  if  hope  were  banished  from  the  world,  it 
would  truly  be  found  again  in  the  hearts  of  moth- 
ers.  The  fourth  lotion  was  applied  on  Holy  Thurs- 


2/2 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


day.  that  is  to  say,  the  first  of  April,  1858.     On  that 
day  the  child  had  taken  a  few  steps  alone. 

These  lotions  had  become  more  and  more  effica- 
cious, and  the  child's  state  underwent  a  progressive 
amelioration.  He  had  come,  at  the  end  of  three  or 
four  weeks,  to  walk  almost  as  well  as  any  body. 
We  use  the  expression  "  almost"  as  he  retained  in 
his  movements  an  awkwardness  of  gait  which  seem- 
ed to  be  a  kind  of  reminiscence  of  his  original  in- 
firmity.  The  emaciation  of  his  legs  had  disappeai- 
ed  by  degrees  with  his  weakness,  and  his  chest  was 
almost  entirely  straightened.  All  the  inhabitants 
of  Gez,  who  well  knew  the  former  state  of  the 
child,  attributed  this  recovery  to  a  Miracle.  Were 
they  right  or  wrong  in  so  doing  ?  Whatever  our 
own  opinion  may  be  on  the  subject,  there  is  cer- 
tainly much  to  be  said  on  both  sides  of  the  ques- 
tion. 

Another  child,  Denys  Bouchet,  from  the  maiket- 
town  of  Lamarque,  in  the  canton  of  Ossun,  had  been 
also  cured  of  a  general  paralysis  in  very  much  the 
same  way.  A  young  man,  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
Jean  Louis  Amare,  who  was  epileptic,  had  found  his 
terrible  malady  yield  entirely,  but  only  by  degrees, 
tD  applications  of  the  water  of  Massabielle. 

Some  other  analogous  cases  had  occurred. 

III. 

WERE  we  not  acquainted  with  the  wonderfully  va- 
ned  forms  of  supernatural  cures  which  have  taken 
place  since  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  we 
might,  perhaps,  be  tempted  to  believe,  that  things 
wjre  thus  disposed  at  this  moment  by  Providence  for 


OUR  LADY  Of  LOURDEB.  273 

the  very  purpose  of  causing  the  proud  philosophy  of 
man  to  catch  itself  in  its  own  nets  and  commit  sui- 
cide with  its  own  hands  But  here,  let  us  believe, 
there  was  no  divine  snare.  God  does  not  lay  an 
ambush  for  any  of  his  creatures.  By  its  own  innate 
strength  and  by  means  of  its  normal  and  regular 
developments,  the  logic  of  which  is  unknown  to  hu- 
man philosophers,  Truth  is  an  eternal  snare  in  the 
path  of  Error. 

However  this  may  be,  the  scientific  men  and  the 
medical  men  of  the  place,  were  eager  to  discover 
in  these  various  cures  of  uncertain  and  doubtful 
complexion — which  were,  however,  perfectly  estab- 
lished as  regarded  their  reality  and  progressive 
character — an  admirable  opportunity  and  happy 
pretext  for  bringing  into  operation  a  change  of  tac- 
tics and  dexterity  of  manoeuvres  which  the  increas- 
ing evidence  of  facts  rendered  absolutely  neces- 
sary. 

Ceasing,  then,  to  endeavor  to  account  for  these 
cures  by  bringing  forward  the  thread-bare  theory 
of  the  effect  of  imagination,  they  boldly  attributed 
them  to  the  natural  virtues  which  this  singular  water, 
lately  gushed  forth  by  the  merest  chance,  indubitably 
possessed. 

To  offer  such  an  explanation,  was  to  acknowledge 
the  reality  of  the  cures. 

Let  the  reader  recall  to  his  mind  the  commence- 
ment of  this  divine  history,  when  a  little  shepherd- 
girl,  going  to  collect  fragments  of  dead-wood,  had 
claimed  to  have  seen  a  luminous  Apparition  start  up 
before  her.  Let  him  remember  the  sneering  of  the 
strong-minded  of  Lourdes,  the  shruggings  of  shoul 
ders  at  the  Club,  the  ineffable  contempt  with  which 


874  ^^  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

all  these  ^owerful  minds  received  those  childisn  sto- 
nes  as  nonsense  and  folly.  H  o\v  many  steps  forward 
had  the  supernatural  affirmation  made — how  many 
steps  to  the  rear  had  incredulity,  science  and  philoso- 
phy taken  since  the  first  events  which  so  suddenly 
took  place  at  the  lonely  Grotto  on  the  bank  of  the 
Gave ! 

The  Miracle— if  we  may  venture  to  use  the  ex- 
pression — had  assumed  the  offensive.  The  Free- 
thinkers, formerly  so  fierce  in  their  attack,  now 
pursued  by  the  force  of  facts,  were  reduced  to  an 
attitude  of  self-defence. 

The  representatives  of  Philosophy  and  Science 
were  not,  however,  on  this  account  less  bold  in  their 
assertions,  nor  did  they  display  less  contempt  for 
popular  superstition. 

"  Well,  then,  be  it  so,"  they  observed,  affecting  a 
good-humored  tone  and  the  semblance  of  sincerity. 
"  We  allow  that  the  water  of  the  Grotto  cures  cer- 
tain maladies."  What  can  be  more  simple  ?  What 
need  is  there  of  Miracles,  supernatural  graces,  and 
divine  intervention,  to  explain  an  agency  which,  if 
not  identical  with,  is  analogous  to,  that  of  a  thou- 
sand Springs,  which  from  Vichy  or  Baden-Baden  to 
Luchon,  act  so  efficaciously  on  the  human  system  ? 
The  water  of  Massabielle,  in  point  of  fact,  possesses 
certain  very  potent  mineral  qualities  similar  to  those 
of  the  Baths  of  Bareges  or  Cautarets,  a  few  leagues 
Higher  up  in  the  mountains.  The  Grotto  of  Lourdes 
has  no  connection  with  Religion,  it  is  in  the  juris- 
diction of  medical  science. 

A  letter, — which  we  take  at  random  from  among 
our  documents, — gives  a  better  idea  than  we  could 
ourselves,  furnish,  of  the  position  assumed  by  men 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB.  275 

jf  science  with  regard  to  the  marvelous  operations 
of  the  water  of  Massabielle.  This,  Letter,  from  the 
pen  of  a  very  honorable  physician  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, Doctor  Lary,  who  had  not  the  slightest  faith 
in  any  miraculous  interpretation,  is  addressed  to  a 
member  of  the  Faculty  : 

"  OSSUN,  April  28th,  1858. 

"  1  take  the  earliest  opportunity,  my  dear  friend, 
of  sending  you  the  details  you  ask  for,  regarding  the 
woman  called  Galop,  of  our  commune. 

This  woman,  in  consequence  of  rheumatism  in 
her  left  hand,  had  lost  the  power  of  holding  any 
thing  with  it.  For  instance,  if  she  wished  to  wash 
or  remove  a  glass,  she  most  frequently  let  it  fall ; 
and  if  she  wished  to  draw  water,  she  was  forced  to 
give  up  the  idea,  as  she  was  unable  with  her  left 
hand  to  tighten  the  rope  of  the  well.  It  was  more 
than  eight  months  since  she  had  made  her  bed  ;  and 
during  that  time,  she  had  been  obliged  to  relinquish 
spinning  altogether. 

"  Now,  since  her  single  journey  to  Lourdes,  where 
she  made  use  of  the  water  of  the  Grotto,  she  spins 
with  considerable  facility  ;  she  makes  her  bed,  is  able 
to  draw  water  from  the  well,  washes  and  carries  about 
glasses  and  plates  at  table,  and,  in  a  word,  uses  this 
hand  almost  as  well  as  the  other  one. 

"  The  movements  of  her  left  hand  are  not  yet  quite 
so  free  as  they  were  before  her  illness,  but,  compared 
with  what  they  were  before  she  used  the  water  of 
the  Grotto  at  Lourdes,  there  is  a  difference  of  90  per 
cent. 

44  The  woman  proposes  going  again  to  the  Grotto, 
and  I  shall  make  her  promise  to  pay  you  a  visit  that 


276  0KB  LADY  OF  LOUEDB8. 

you  may  convince  yourself  of  the  truth  of  what  ! 
now  write  you. 

"  You  will  find,  on  examining  the  patient,  an  in- 
complete anchylosis  of  the  lower  joint  of  the  fore- 
finger— this  is  all  that  remains  of  her  complaint.  If 
this  morbid  state  yields  to  the  reiterated  use  of  the 
water  of  the  Grotto,  this  fact  will  be  an  additional 
proof  of  the  water  being  impregnated  with  alkali. 

"  I  must  now  close.     Believe  me, 

"  Yours,  very  faithfully, 

"  LARY,  M.  D." 

This  explanation  havuig  been  once  admitted,  and 
held  a  priori  as  certain,  the  medical  men  displayed 
less  reluctance  in  acknowledging  the  cures  effected 
by  the  water  of  the  Grotto,  and,  from  that  moment, 
they  betook  themselves  to  generalizing  their  thesis 
and  to  applying  it  almost  indiscriminately  to  all 
cases,  even  to  those  which  had  an  almost  bewilder- 
ing character  of  suddenness — a  character,  however, 
not  easily  reconcilable  with  the  ordinary  action  of 
mineral  waters.  The  learned  personages  of  the 
place  extricated  themselves  from  this  difficulty  by 
attributing  to  the  water  of  the  Grotto  extremely 
powerful  qualities,  such  as  had  not  been  met  with  up 
to  that  period.  It  mattered  little  to  them  that  they 
upset  with  their  theories  all  the  ordinary  laws  of 
nature,  provided  heaven  was  excluded  from  any 
share  in  the  profits.  They  willingly  admitted  the 
extra-natural,  in  order  to  rid  themselves  of  the  super- 
natural. 

There  were  to  be  found  among  the  class  of  be- 
licvers,  certain  persons  of  badly  organized  and  pro- 
voking minds,  who  troubled  with  their  importunate 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDSB.  277 

reflections,  the  grave  explanations  and  transcenden- 
tal  theories  of  this  learned  coterie. 

"  How  comes  it,"  they  objected,  "  that  this  min- 
eral spring,  gifted  with  such  exceptional  power  of 
effecting  sudden  cures,  should  have  been  discovered 
by  Bernadette  precisely  at  the  time  she  was  in  a 
State  of  ecstacy,  in  the  train  of  asserted  heavenly 
visions,  and,  as  it  were,  the  proof  of  these  superna- 
tural Apparitions?  How  did  it  come  to  pass,  that 
this  Spring  gushed  forth  just  at  the  moment  when 
Bernadette  believed  she  heard  the  divine  Voice 
commanding  her  to  drink  and  to  wash  herself?  And 
how  is  the  fact  to  be  accounted  for,  that  this  Spring, 
which  rose  suddenly  before  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
population  under  such  astonishing  circumstances, 
does  not  give  water  of  an  ordinary  description,  but 
a  kind  of  water,  which,  by  your  own  confession,  has 
already  cured  so  many  laboring  under  desperate 
maladies,  who  had  recourse  to  it,  not  by  the  advice 
of  their  medical  attendants,  but  from  simple  feelings 
of  religious  faith  ?  " 

These  objections,  repeated  in  a  thousand  different 
forms,  irritated  the  Free-thinkers,  Philosophers,  and 
Savants,  beyond  measure.  They  endeavored  to  par- 
ry them  by  answers,  so  truly  pitiable  and  wretched, 
that  they  could  hardly  be  supposed  to  be  deceived 
by  them  themselves ;  but,  to  find  any  better  adap- 
ted to  their  purpose  was,  truly,  a  difficult  task. 

"  After  all,"  they  said,  "  coffee  was  discovered 
accidentally  by  a  goat.  A  herdsman  found  out  by 
chance  the  baths  of  Luchon,  and  again  a  peasant, 
while  digging  accidentally,  stumbled  on  the  rums  oi 
Pompeii.  What  is  there  so  astonishing  in  the  fact 
tnat  this  little  girl,  amusing  herself  in  scooping  out 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDS8. 

the  earth  during  her  state  of  hallucination,  should 
have  caused  a  spring  to  gush  forth,  and  that  this 
spring  should  turn  out  to  be  mineral  and  impreg- 
nated with  alkali  ?  That  at  that  very  moment  she 
fancied  she  saw  tne  Blessed  Virgin  and  heaid  a 
voice  declaring  the  existence  of  the  spring,  is 
a  merely  fortuitous  coincidence  which  Superstition 
would  glady  convert  into  a  Miracle.  That  day,  as 
has  always  been  the  case,  chance  did  everything 
and  was  the  sole  revealer. 

Those  who  believed,  however,  did  not  suffer 
themselves  to  be  staggered  by  such  logic.  They 
had  bad  taste  enough  to  consider  that  to  explain 
all  these  things  by  referring  them  to  purely  acci- 
dental coincidences,  was  to  do  violence  to  reason 
under  pretext  of  undertaking  its  defence.  This 
served  to  exasperate  the  Free-thinkers,  who,  while 
acknowledging  somewhat  late  in  the  day  the  reality 
of  the  cures  effected,  deplored  more  than  ever  the 
religious  and  supernatural  character  which  the  com- 
mon people  persisted  in  attributing  to  these  strange 
events  ;  and  like  persons  in  a  pet,  they  inclined  to 
violent  measures  with  the  view  of  stemming  the 
popular  current.  "  If  these  waters  have  mineral 
properties,"  they  began  to  say,  "  they  belong  either 
to  the  State  or  the  municipality,  and  no  one  should 
repair  to  them  without  medical  prescription.  A 
bathing  establishment  there  would  be  a  more  suit- 
able erection  than  a  chapel." 

The  scientific  men  of  Lourdes,  obliged  to  recog- 
nize facts  which  could  not  be  gainsayed,  had 
reached  this  state  of  mind  and  mood  of  intellect, 
when  the  Prefect's  measures  relative  to  the  objects 
deposited  at  the  Grotto,  and  the  attempt  to  incar- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 


279 


cerate  Bernadette  on  the  plea  of  insanity  —  an 
attempt  rendered  abortive  by  the  unexpected  inter, 
ference  of  the  Curd  Peyramale — suddenly  came  into 
play. 

IV. 

To  all  these  theses  of  the  medical  sect,  now  at  bay, 
there  was  wanting  a  sure  and  official  point  cTappui. 
M.  Massy  had  already  meditated  seeking  this  point 
(Tappui  in  one  of  the  most  admirable  and  incontes- 
table sciences  of  the  present  day  —  Chemistry. 
With  this  object  he  had  addressed  himself  through 
the  Mayor  of  Lourdes  to  a  Chemist  of  tolerable 
celebrity  in  the  Department,  M.  Latour  de  Trie. 

To  have  it  attested — not  in  detail  by  the  exami- 
nation of  each  case,  but  wholesale  and  in  a  mass — 
that  all  these  cures  which  were  increasing  in  num- 
ber and  starting  up  as  formidable  opponents,  were 
entirely  natural,  owing  to  the  innate  properties  of 
this  new  Spring,  appeared  to  him  a  master-stroke  ; 
and  he  believed  that  by  doing  so  he  should  merit 
the  gratitude  of  Science  and  of  Philosophy,  and,  to 
omit  nothing,  of  the  higher  Administration  repre- 
sented in  the  person  of  M.  Rouland,  the  Minister. 

Perceiving  that  it  was  plainly  impossible  to  have 
Bernadette  arrested  as  insane,  he  urged  on  the 
analysis  which  was  to  establish  officially,  in  the 
very  face  of  the  cures,  the  mineral  and  therapeutic 
properties  of  the  water  of  the  Grotto.  He  was  im- 
patient to  rid  himself  of  this  encroaching  Super- 
natural, which  after  having  caused  the  Spring  to 
gush  forth,  was  now  healing  the  sick  and  threatened 
to  bear  down  all  opposition.  A  really  official  analv* 


280  OUR  LADY  OF  LQ*7RDE& 

sis  might  be  productive  of  great  service,  even  if  it 
.eft  this  accursed  Supernatural  tolerably  strong  in 
many  quarters. 

The  Chemist  of  the  Prefecture  therefore  set  tc 
work  to  make  this  precious  study  of  the  water 
which  had  gushed  forth  at  Massabielle,  and  per- 
fectly conscientiously  if  not  completely  scientifically 
he  found  at  the  bottom  of  his  retorts  a  solution  in 
exact  conformity  with  the  explanations  of  the  medi- 
cal men,  the  thesis  of  the  philosophers  and  the 
wishes  of  the  Prefect.  Was  Truth  as  well  satisfied 
with  this  analysis  as  the  Prefecture,  Philosophy  and 
the  Faculty  might  possibly  be  ?  This  is  a  question 
which  they  did  not  perhaps  think  of  proposing  to 
themselves  at  the  time,  but  which  the  future  was 
destined  to  charge  itself  with  the  decision. 

However  this  may  be,  here  is  the  summary  analy- 
sis which  M.  Latour  de  Trie,  Chemist  to  the  Admin- 
istration, addressed  officially,  on  the  sixth  of  May,  to 
the  Mayor  of  Lourdes,  by  whom  it  was  immediately 
forwarded  to  Baron  Massy  : 

CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS. — The  water  of  the  Grotto 
at  Lourdes  is  very  limpid,  free  from  any  smell  and 
without  any  peculiar  taste.  Its  specific  gravity  is 
very  nearly  that  of  distilled  water.  Its  temperature 
at  the  Spring  is  15°  Cent. 

It  contains  the  following  compounds : 

1.  Chlorides  of  sodium,  calcium  and  magnesium 
abundantly. 

2.  Carbonates    of    sodium,   calcium    and    mag- 
nesium. 

3.  Silicates  of  sodium  and  aluminium. 

4.  Oxide  of  iron. 


0173?  LADY  OF  LOURDEB.  381 

5.  Sulphate  of  sodium  and  carbonate  of  sodium. 

6.  Phosphate:  traces. 

7.  Organic  rwatter :  ulmine. 

We  certify  the  entire  absence  of  sulphate  of  cal 
cium  or  selenite  in  this  water. 

This  peculiarity,  which  is  somewhat  remarkable, 
is  quite  in  its  favor  and  ought  to  make  us  regard  it 
as  being  very  light,  easy  of  digestion  and  communi 
eating  to  the  animal  economy  a  disposition  favorable 
to  the  balance  of  vital  action. 

We  do  not  believe  we  are  prejudging  in  saying, 
on  taking  into  consideration  the  ensemble  and  the 
quality  of  the  substances  of  which  this  water  is  com- 
posed, that  medical  science  will  not  be  slow  in 
recognizing  in  it  certain  special  curative  properties 
which  may  lead  to  its  being  classed  in  the  number 
of  waters  which  form  the  mineral  wealth  of  our 
Department. 

Be  pleased  to  accept,  etc., 

A.  LATOUR  DE  TRIE. 

Discipline  is  not  carried  to  the  same  extent  in 
civil  as  in  military  affairs,  and  in  the  former,  owing 
to  want  of  skill,  the  manoeuvres  are  sometimes 
failures.  The  Prefect  in  the  midst  of  his  pre-occu- 
pations  had  neglected  to  issue  his  instructions  to 
the  editorial  department  of  the  Prefectoral  organ, 
the  $re  Imperial,  the  consequence  of  which  was 
that  while  the  Chemist  of  the  Prefecture  was  assert- 
ing one  thing,  the  Journalist  of  the  Prefecture  was 
as  distinctly  affirming  the  other;  while  the  former 
paid  homage  to  the  Spring  of  Lourdes,  as  one  of  the 
future  therapeutic  and  mineral  riches  of  the  Pyre- 
nees, the  latter  alluded  to  it  as  dirty  water,  and  in« 


?82  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEb. 

dulged  himself  in  sundry  pleasantries  at  the  expense 
of  the  cures  effected.  "  It  is  unnecessary  to  say," 
he  wrote  the  very  day  on  which  M.  Latour  de  Trie 
had  sent  in  his  report,  the  sixth  of  May,  "  that  this 
famous  Grotto  pours  out  a  perfect  flood  of  miracles 
and  that  our  Department  is  drenched  with  them.  At 
the  corner  of  every  field  you  may  meet  with  per- 
sons, who  tell  you  the  thousands  of  cures  effected 
by  the  use  of  this  dirty  water.  Very  soon  the  doc- 
tors will  have  nothing  to  do,  and  all  who  have 
hitherto  suffered  from  rheumatism  or  affections  of 
the  chest,  will  have  disappeared  from  the  Depart- 
ment." 

In  spite  of  these  little  discrepancies  which  ht 
might  have  avoided,  it  is  only  fair  to  acknowledge 
that  the  Prefect  was  a  man  of  considerable  activit3\ 
On  the  fourth  of  May,  towards  noon,  he  had  made 
his  speech  to  the  Mayors  of  the  cantons  of  Lourdes 
and  issued  his  orders.  On  the  evening  of  the  same 
day  the  Grotto  had  been  stripped  of  its  offerings 
and  ex-votos.  On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  of  May 
he  had  become  aware  of  the  utter  impossibility  of 
arresting  Bernadette  and  abandoned  the  design 
On  the  evening  of  the  6th,  the  analysis  furnished  by 
his  Chemist  had  reached  his  hands. 

Armed  with  this  last  and  highly  important  docu- 
ment he  was  waiting  to  see  what  course  things 
would  take. 

What  indeed  would  happen  at  Lourdes  ?  What 
would  take  place  at  the  Grotto  ?  What  would  be 
the  next  step  of  Bernadette,  whose  slightest  move- 
ments were  narrowly  watched  by  the  Argus  eyes 
of  Jacomet  and  his  agents?  During  the  great  heats 
which  were  already  commencing,  would  not  tbo 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE8,  383 

Fountain,  as  many  asserted,  Ite  dried  up  and  every- 
thing be  brought  to  a  stand  still  ?  What  line  of  con- 
duct would  be  pursued  by  the  population  ?  Such 
were  the  preoccupations,  hopes  and  disquietudes 
which  filled  the  breast  of  Baron  Massy,  Prefect  of 
the  Empire. 

V. 

AT  the  Grotto,  the  miraculous  Fountain  con- 
tinued to  pour  forth  its  limpid  and  abundant  waters 
with  that  character  of  tranquil  perennity  remark- 
able in  the  beautiful  springs  which  gush  from 
amid  rocks. 

The  supernatural  Apparition  ceased  not  to  assert 
her  claims  and  prove  her  existence  by  the  benefits 
she  conferred. 

At  one  time  rapid  as  the  flash  of  lightning  which 
rends  the  clouds,  at  another  slow  in  its  progress  as 
the  light  of  morning  which  rises  and  sheds  its  rays 
gradually  over  the  surface  of  the  earth,  the  Grace 
of  God  continued  to  descend  visibly  and  invisibly 
on  the  assembled  throngs. 

We  can  only  speak  of  graces  which  were  obvious 
to  the  senses. 

About  a  league  and  half  from  Lourdes,  at  Louba- 
jac,  there  lived  an  excellent  peasant  woman, 
formerly  a  hard  worker,  but  who  for  the  last  eigh- 
teen months  had  been  reduced  by  an  accident  to 
the  most  painful  state  of  inaction,  Her  name  was 
Catharine  Latapie-Choust.  In  October  1856,  having 
climbed  an  oak  for  the  purpose  of  shaking  down 
the  acorns,  she  lost  her  balance  and  had  a  serious 
fell,  from  the  effects  of  which  her  right  arm  and 


284  OUB  LADY  OF  LOURDE8, 

nand  were  dislocated.  The  necessary  operation,  as 
we  learn  from  the  report  of  the  case  and  the  officia. 
statement  now  before  us,  which  was  immediately 
and  successfully  performed  by  a  skillful  medical 
man,  had  almost  brought  her  arm  back  to  its  nor- 
mal state,  without  however  being  able  to  cure 
its  extreme  weakness.  But  the  stiffness  of  the  three 
most  important  fingers  of  her  hand  defied  all  the 
care  and  attention  which  were  lavished  upon  her. 
The  thumb,  fore  and  middle  finger  remained  bent 
inwards  and  entirely  paralyzed,  so  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  her  to  straighten  them,  or  indeed  to 
move  them  in  any  way.  The  unfortunate  peasant 
woman,  who  was  still  young,  having  barely  attained 
her  thirty-eighth  year,  was  unable  to  sew,  spin,  knit 
or  attend  to  household  matters.  Her  doctor,  after 
having  attended  her  for  a  length  of  time  to  no  pur- 
pose, had  informed  her  that  she  was  incurable,  and 
that  she  must  resign  herself  to  the  loss  of  the  use  of 
her  hand.  Such  a  sentence  from  the  lips  of  so  com- 
petent a  judge  was  for  this  unfortunate  creature  the 
announcement  of  an  irreparable  misfortune.  To 
the  poor  labor  is  the  only  resource,  and  their  being 
obliged  to  do  nothing  is  tantamount  to  inevitable 
destitution. 

Catharine  had  become  enceinte  nine  or  ten 
months  after  her  accident,  and  her  time  was  ap- 
proaching when  the  divine  events  at  the  Grotto  of 
Massabielle  occurred.  One  night  she  felt  herself 
all  at  once  aroused,  as  it  were,  by  a  sudden  idea. 
"A  Spirit  within  me" — she  informed  the  author  of  this 
book — "  a  Spirit  within  me,  said  to  me,  with  a  kind 
of  irresistible  force,  '  Go  to  the  Grotto !  Go  to 
the  Grotto  and  vou  will  be  cured  !'  "  Who  was  this 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  285 

mysterious  being  who  spoke  thus,  and  whom  this 
ignorant  peasant  woman — ignorant,  at  least,  as  fat 
as  all  human  knowledge  went — called  "  a  Spirit  ?': 
The  secret  is,  doubtless,  known  to  her  Guardian, 
angel. 

It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Catharine 
called  her  two  children,  who  were  already  well 
grown,  to  accompany  her. 

"  Remain  at  your  work,"  she  said  to  her  husband. 
"  I  am  going  to  the  Grotto." 

"  In  your  present  advanced  state,  it  is  impossible," 
he  rejoined.  "  It  is  a  journey  of  three  leagues  to 
Lourdes — there  and  back." 

"  Nothing  is  impossible.  I  am  going  to  be 
cured." 

No  objections  were  of  avail,  and  she  started  with 
her  two  children.  It  was  a  lovely  moonlight. 
The  awful  silence  of  night,  disturbed,  from  time  to 
time,  by  mysterious  noises ;  the  profound  solitude 
of  the  scene,  dimly  lighted  and  peopled  with  indis- 
tinct forms,  terrified  the  children.  They  trembled 
and  paused  at  every  step ;  but  they  were  re-assured 
by  their  mother.  Catharine  had  no  fear,  and  felt 
that  she  was  advancing  towards  Life. 

She  reached  Lourdes  at  day -break.  She  met 
B^rnadette.  Some  one  informed  her  it  was  the 
youthful  Seer.  Catharine  made  no  reply,  but  ap- 
proaching the  child  so  blessed  by  God  and  beloved 
by  Mary,  she  humbly  touched  her  dress.  She  then 
pursued  her  way  towards  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle, 
where,  notwithstanding  the  early  hour  of  the  morn- 
ing, a  multitude  of  pilgrims  had  assembled,  and 
were  devoutly  kneeling. 

Catharine  and  her  children  knelt  also  and  prayed 


286  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB. 

After  having  prayed,  Catharine  rose  and  went  to 
bathe  her  hand  calmly  in  the  marvelous  water. 

Immediately  her  fingers  were  straightened.  Im- 
mediately her  fingers  became  supple  and  life  re- 
turned to  them.  The  divine  Virgin  had  cured  one 
pronounced  incurable. 

How  did  Catharine  take  this  ?  She  felt  no  sur- 
prise. She  uttered  no  cry,  but,  kneeling  down 
once  more,  she  offered  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving  to 
Mary  and  to  God. 

For  the  first  time,  for  eighteen  months,  she  pray- 
ed with  joined  hands,  and  clasped  her  fingers  to- 
gether. 

She  remained  thus  a  long  time  absorbed  in  this 
act  of  gratitude.  Such  moments  are  sweet ;  the 
soul  loves  to  forget  itself  in  them,  and  it  seems  as 
if  Paradise  were  once  more  restored  to  its  gaze. 

Sudden  and  violent  pains  recalled  to  the  mind 
of  Catharine  the  consciousness  that  she  was  still  on 
earth,  on  this  earth  of  sighs  and  tears,  where  the 
curse  originally  hurled  against  the  guilty  woman, 
ancestress  of  the  human  race,  has  not  ceased  to 
weigh  on  her  innumerable  posterity.  We  said  that 
Catharine  was  in  the  last  stage  of  pregnancy.  As 
this  poor  woman  was  still  on  her  knees,  she  felt 
herself  suddenly  overtaken  with  the  first  and  ter- 
rible pangs  of  child-birth.  She  trembled  as  she 
reflected  that  she  had  not  time  even  to  return  to 
Lourdes,  and  that  she  would  be  delivered  before 
the  throng  which  surrounded  her.  She  regarded 
this  crowd  for  an  instant  with  an  anguish  of  fear. 

This  terror,  however,  was  of  short  duration. 
Catharine  turned  herself  anew  towards  that  sov- 
ereign Virgin  whom  Nature  obeys. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  387 

'  Good  Mother,"  she  said  to  her  with  simplicity, 
-  Thou  who  hast  just  obtained  for  me  so  great  a 
favor,  spare  me  the  shame  of  being  delivered  be* 
fore  this  concourse  of  people,  and  grant,  at  least, 
that  I  may  be  enabled  to  return  home  ere  I  bring 
into  the  world  the  babe  I  bear  within  me." 

Immediately  all  her  pangs  subsided,  and  the 
Spirit,  the  Spirit  within  her  of  whom  she  spoke  tc- 
us,  and  whom  we  believe  to  have  been  her  Guar- 
dian-angel, said  to  her,  "  Be  calm ;  go  without  feai ; 
you  will  reach  home  without  any  accident." 

"  Let  us  rise  now  and  go,"  said  Catharine  to  her 
two  children. 

On  this  she  took  them  by  the  hand  and  proceed- 
ed in  the  direction  of  Loubajac,  without  allowing 
any  one  to  suspect  the  crisis  which  had  threatened 
her,  and  without  displaying  any  uneasiness,  not  only 
to  the  by-standers  but  even  to  the  midwife  of  her 
own  village,  who  chanced  to  be  there,  and  was  re- 
cognized by  her  in  the  midst  of  the  pilgrims. 
Happier  than  we  can  express,  she  traversed  calmly, 
and  without  hastening  her  pace,  the  long  route  and 
bad  roads  which  separated  her  from  home.  The 
two  children  were  no  longer  afraid,  as  they  had 
been  during  the  night :  the  sun  had  risen,  and  their 
mother  was  cured. 

On  reaching  her  house,  Catharine  vrished  to  pray 
again,  but  immediately  the  pangs  of  labor  came 
once  more  upon  her.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  after- 
wards she  was  delivered,  and  became  the  mother 
of  a  third  son. 

At  the  same   period,   a   woman   of   Lamarque, 

Marianne  Garrot,  had  been  relieved,  in  less  than 

days,  by  simple  lotions  of  the  water  from  the 


*88  OUJt  LADY  OP  LOURDBS. 

Grotto,  of  a  milk-colored  eruption,  which  extended 
over  the  whole  of  her  face,  and  had  resisted  every 
kind  of  treatment  for  upwards  of  two  years.  Doc- 
tor Amadon,  of  Pontac,  her  medical  adviser,  certi- 
fied the  fact,  and,  at  a  later  period,  bore  unexcep- 
tionable testimony  to  it  before  the  Episcopal  Com- 
mission. 

At  Borderes,  near  Nay,  Marie  Lanou-Domenge, 
a  widow,  eighty  years  of  age,  had  for  the  last  three 
years  suffered  from  a  partial  paralysis  in  her  left 
side.  She  could  not  move  a  step  without  the  as- 
sistance of  others,  and  was,  in  consequence  of  her 
infirmity,  incapable  of  any  kind  of  labor. 

Doctor  Poneymiroo,  of  Mirepoix,  after  having  in 
vain  employed  certain  remedies  to  restore  anima- 
tion to  her  atrophied  limbs,  had  ceased  to  attend 
her  in  his  medical  capacity,  though  he  continued 
to  visit  her. 

Hope,  however,  quits  unwillingly  the  mind  of 
the  sick.  "  When  shall  I  get  better  ?"  was  the 
good  woman's  question  whenever  she  met  Doc- 
tor Poneymiroo. 

"  You  will  get  better  when  such  is  God's  will," 
was  the  invariable  reply  of  the  Doctor,  who  was 
far  from  thinking,  when  he  thus  expressed  himself, 
that  his  words  were  prophetical, 

"  Why  should  I  not  believe  this  word  and  ad- 
dress myself  directly  to  the  divine  goodness,"  ob- 
served the  old  peasant  woman  to  herself  one  day, 
on  hearing  the  Spring  of  Massabielle  mentioned  in 
conversation. 

She  dispatched  some  one  to  Lourdes  to  procure 
a  small  quantity  of  the  healing  water  at  the  Spring 
itself. 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  289 

When  it  was  brought  to  her,  she  was  seized  with 
great  emotion. 

"  Take  me  out  of  my  bed,"  she  said,  "  and  hold 
me  upright." 

They  raised  her  and  dressed  her  hastily,  almost 
in  a  feverish  state  of  excitement.  Both  the  spec- 
tators and  actors  in  this  scene  were  troubled. 

Two  persons  raised  her  and  held  her  standing 
upright,  supporting  her  under  her  shoulders. 

They  presented  her  a  glass  of  the  water  from  the 
Grotto.  Marie  stretched  her  trembling  hand  to- 
wards the  water  of  deliverance,  and  plunged  into 
it  her  fingers.  She  then  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross 
upon  herself,  after  which  she  raised  the  glass  to  her 
lips  and  slowly  drank  its  contents,  doubtless  ab- 
sorbed in  some  fervent  prayer,  which  she  uttered 
m  a  low  tone. 

She  was  pale — so  pale,  that  for  a  moment  the  by- 
standers thought  she  was  on  the  point  of  fainting. 

But  while  they  were  exerting  themselves  to  pre- 
sent her  from  falling,  she  held  herself  erect,  trembled 
and  gazed  around  her.  She  uttered  a  cry,  as  it 
were,  of  triumphant  joy. 

"  Let  me  go !     Let  me  go  quickly.     I  am  cured." 

Those  who  were  supporting  her  half  withdrew 
their  arms  hesitatingly.  Marie  immediately  darted 
forward  and  began  to  walk  with  confidence,  as  if 
she  had  never  been  suffering  from  illness. 

Some  one,  who,  in  spite  of  all  this,  entertained 
some  fears  about  her,  gave  her  a  cane  with  which 
to  support  herself. 

Marie  looked  at  the  cane  and  smiled.  She  then 
took  it,  and,  with  a  gesture  of  contempt,  threw  it 
to  a  distance  from  her  as  an  article  of  no  further  use. 
13 


290  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

From  that  day  she  betook  herself  once  more  to 
hard  work  in  the  fields. 

Some  visitors  having  come  to  see  her  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  truth  of  the  fact,  asked  her  if  she  could 
walk  in  their  presence. 

"Walk?  Gentlemen,"  she  exclaimed,  "  I  arn  going 
to  run." 

And  suiting  the  action  to  the  words  she  com 
menced  to  run  before  them. 

This  happened  in  the  month  of  May.  In  the 
month  of  July  following,  Marie,  the  vigorous  octo- 
genarian, was  pointed  out  by  one  to  another  as  a 
phenomenon,  who  was  gallantly  reaping  the  corn, 
and  was  far  from  being  the  last  in  the  fatiguing 
labor  of  the  harvest. 

Her  medical  man,  the  highly  honorable  Doctor 
Poneymiroo,  praised  God  for  so  evident  a  miracle, 
and  later  on,  he  signed,  with  the  Commission  of  In- 
vestigation, the  official  report  of  the  extraordinary 
events  we  have  just  described,  with  reference  to 
which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge  "  the 
direct  and  evident  agency  of  divine  power." 

VI. 

THE  Press  of  Paris  and  of  the  province  began  to 
occupy  themselves  with  the  occurrences  at  Lourdes ; 
and  far  beyond  the  range  of  the  Pyrenees,  public 
attention  was  being  turned  by  degrees  towards  the 
Grotto  of  Massabielle. 

The  Prefect's  measures  were  highly  commended 
by  the  organs  of  the  Free-thinkers,  and  not  less 
vehemently  censured  by  the  Catholic  journals.  The 
latter,  while  they  hazarded  no  judgment  as  to  the 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDES. 


291 


reality  of  the  Apparitions  and  miracles,  claimed 
that  a  question  of  this  nature  snould  be  decided 
by  the  ecclesiastical  authority  and  not  prema- 
turely settled  by  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  Pre- 
fect. 

The  innumerable  miracles  which  were  being  ac- 
complished either  at  the  Grotto  or  at  a  distance, 
attracted  a  vast  concourse  of  invalids  and  pilgrims 
to  Lourdes.  The  analysis  of  Latour  de  Trie  and 
the  pretended  mineral  properties  attributed  to  the 
new  Spijing  by  the  medical  men  who  supported  the 
Prefect,  added  still  more  to  the  reputation  of  the 
Grotto,  and  induced  even  those  to  flock  there  who 
reckoned  on  the  resources  of  Nature  only  for  their 
recovery.  On  the  other  hand,  these  polemical  dis- 
cussions, by  exciting  the  minds  of  all,  added  to  the 
multitude  of  those  who  believed  a  multitude  of 
others  who  were  actuated  by  feelings  of  mere  curi- 
osity. All  the  means  employed  by  the  party  of  un- 
belief produced  an  effect  diametrically  contrary  to 
the  one  they  had  proposed  to  themselves.  Owing 
to  the  irresistible  turn  events  had  taken  —  a  turn 
regarded  as  fatal  by  some,  as  providential  by  others 
—  the  influx  of  people,  which  it  had  been  the  wish 
of  the  authorities  to  check,  assumed  more  and  more 
considerable  proportions.  This  influx  was  the 
more  accelerated  and  developed  owing  to  the  fact 
that,  as  if  to  give  every  one  a  chance,  the  material 
difficulties  which  were  opposed  to  traveling  by  the 
rigor  of  winter  had  gradually  disappeared.  The 
month  of  May  had  returned.  The  lovely  weather 
of  spring  seemed  to  court  pilgrims  to  repair  to  the 
Grotto  by  all  the  flowery  paths  which  wind  here 
and  there  through  woods  and  across  meadows  and 


vineyards  in  that  land  of  rugged  mountains,  verdant 
hills  and  umbrageous  valleys. 

Out  of  humor  and  powerless,  the  Prefect  saw  the 
gradual  increase  and  extension  of  this  orderly  and 
prodigious  heaving,  which  bore  multitudes  of  christ- 
ians  in  ever  renewed  phalanxes,  to  come  and  kneel 
and  drink  at  the  foot  of  a  solitary  rock. 

The  measures  already  taken  had,  it  is  true,  de- 
prived the  Grotto  of  its  resemblance  to  an  oratory, 
but  in  reality  it  remained  much  as  it  was  before,  as 
far  as  the  veneration  of  the  people  went.  Crowds 
flocked  from  every  part  to  the  place  where  th*» 
miracle  had  taken  place. 

Contrary  to  the  hope  of  the  Free-thinkers,  the 
fears  of  the  Faithful  and  the  expectations  of  all,  no 
disorder  of  any  description  arose  from  this  unheard- 
of  movement  of  men,  women,  children,  believers, 
unbelievers,  and  of  those  who  were  utterly  indiffer- 
ent on  the  subject.  An  invisible  hand  seemed  to 
protect  these  crowds  against  themselves,  when, 
without  leader  or  guide,  they  rushed  day  by  day  to 
the  number  of  several  thousand  pilgrims  towards 
the  miraculous  Fountain. 

The  Magistracy,  represented  by  M.  Dutour,  and 
the  Police,  personified  in  M.  Jacomet,  regarded  this 
strange  spectacle  with  feelings  of  unbounded  as- 
tonishment. Did  it  add  to  their  exasperation  ?  We 
cannot  tell.  Yet,  to  men  of  a  certain  turn  of  mind, 
who  push  their  ideas  of  authority  to  extremes,  the 
sight  of  a  multitude  so  wonderfully  orderly  and 
peaceful  is  an  almost  insulting  and  perfectly  revolu- 
tionary anomaly.  When  order  is  maintained  by 
itself,  all  the  functionaries  who  only  exist  for  the 
ourposr  of  maintaining  order  experience  a  sense  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUSDBB.  293 

vague  uneasiness.  Accustomed  to  mix  themselves 
up  in  every  thing  in  the  name  of  the  Law,  to  keep 
up  discipline,  issue  orders,  summon,  punish,  pardon 
and  to  see  every  thing  and  every  individual  depend- 
ing upon  them  either  personally  or  officially,  they 
experience  a  feeling  bordering  on  distraction  wher 
they  find  themselves  face  to  face  with  a  multitude 
of  men  who  dispense  with  them  altogether  and  do 
not  afford  them  any  pretext  for  interfering,  showing 
their  importance  or  encroaching  on  their  uberty. 
Order  of  this  kind  which  ignores  them  is  in  their 
eyes  the  height  of  disorder.  If  so  fatal  an  example 
was  generally  followed,  there  would  be  no  necessity 
for  any  Procureurs  Imperiaux,  the  Commissaries  of 
Police  would  vanish  from  the  scene,  and  the  stars 
of  Prefects  themselves  would  begin  to  pale. 

Baron  Massy  had  full  power  to  order  the  remo- 
val of  all  the  objects  deposited  at  the  Grotto.  By 
no  law,  however,  was  such  a  deposit  regarded  as 
criminal,  and  it  was  impossible  to  prohibit  such 
offerings  or  to  punish  the  donors.  In  consequence 
of  this  the  Grotto  was  often  filled  with  lighted 
tapers,  flowers,  ex-votos,  and  even  with  silver  or 
gold  pieces  towards  the  erection  of  the  building 
demanded  by  the  Virgin.  The  pious  faithful  wished 
by  so  doing  to  testify  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven  their 
good-will,  even  though  it  might  be  unavailing,  to- 
gether with  their  zeal  and  their  love.  "  What  doei 
it  matter  if  the  money  is  taken  awiy  _t  will  at 
least  have  been  offered.  The  taper  will  have  shed 
'ts  transient  light  in  honor  of  our  Mother,  and  the 
bouquet  will  for  an  instant  have  perfumed  the  blessed 
rock,  on  which  Her  feet  rested."  Such  were  the 
thoughts  of  these  truly  Christian  souls. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

Jacomet  and  his  agents  accordingly  came  to 
carry  off  every  thing.  Much  emboldened  since  he 
had  escaped  the  perils  of  the  fourth  of  May,  the 
Commissary  affected  the  most  contemptuous  and 
brutal  conduct,  sometimes  hurling  various  objects 
into  the  Gave,  before  the  offended  eyes  of  believers. 
Sometimes,  also,  he  found  himself  obliged  to  pre- 
serve, in  spite  of  himself,  the  festal  air  which  marked 
those  blessed  places.  It  was  when,  the  piety  of 
believers  having  scattered  the  leaves  of  countless 
roses  around  the  Grotto,  it  was  out  of  the  question 
for  him  to  pick  up  the  thousand  remnants  of  flowers 
and  the  numberless  petals  which  served  to  form 
this  brilliant  and  fragrant  carpet. 

The  crowds,  however,  continued  to  pray  on  their 
knees,  without  making  any  reply  to  his  provoking 
conduct,  and  they  allowed  every  thing  to  be  done 
with  a  patience  which  God  alone  can  give  to  a 
justly  excited  multitude. 

One  evening  a  report  was  spread  that  the  Em- 
peror or  the  Minister  had  requested  the  prayers  of 
Bernadette.  M.  Dutour  uttered  a  cry  of  triumph 
and  made  all  preparations  for  saving  the  State. 
Three  respectable  women,  who,  as  it  appeared,  had 
originated  the  assertion,  were  dragged  into  court 
and  the  Procureur  insisted  on  the  full  rigor  of  the 
French  law  being  enforced  against  them.  Not- 
withstanding his  wrath  and  eloquence  the  judges 
acquitted  two  and  only  condemned  the  third  to  a 
fine  of  five  francs.  The  Procureur  protested  against 
the  weakness  of  the  Judges,  persisted  in  his  public 
accusation,  and  in  his  exasperation,  or  rather  desper- 
ation, appealed  from  their  decision  to  the  Judges 
of  the  Imperial  Court  at  Pau,  who,  treating  his 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  295 

anger  with  ridicule,  not  only  confirmed  the  acquit- 
tal of  the  two  women,  but  refused  to  ratify  the 
very  slight  sentence  pronounced  on  the  third,  dis- 
missing the  case  altogether. 

This  little  incident,  so  utterly  insignificant  in 
itself,  only  figures  in  our  story  to  show  how  anx- 
iously the  officials  of  the  Parquet  were  on  the  look- 
out, how  actively  they  were  in  search  of  misdemea- 
nors and  opportunities  of  displaying  severity,  since 
they  were  irritated  with  such  miserable  trifles,  and 
employed  their  time  in  prosecuting  poor  simple- 
minded  women,  whose  innocence  was  to  be  shortly 
afterwards  publicly  proclaimed  by  the  Imperial 
Court. 

The  population  remained  calm.  No  pretext  was 
furnished  by  them  for  severities  on  the  plea  of  main- 
taining order. 

One  night,  when  it  was  pitch  dark,  some  un- 
known persons  tore  up  the  pipe  of  the  miraculous 
Spring  and  choked  its  waters  under  shapeless  heaps 
of  rocks,  earth  and  sand.  Who  was  it  that  raised 
this  monument  of  darkness  against  the  divine  work  ? 
What  impious  and  at  the  same  time  cowardly  hands 
committed  this  sacrilege,  while  shunning  the  obser- 
vation of  their  fellows  ?  No  one  knows.  But  when 
day  broke  and  the  profanation  became  known,  a 
murmur  of  indignation,  as  might  have  been  antici- 
pated, issued  from  the  crowds  who  had  rushed  to 
the  spot,  and  on  that  day  the  people  might  be  seen 
on  the  roads  and  in  the  street  moving  to  and  fro 
in  a  state  of  agitation  resembling  that  of  the  ocean 
when  it  foams  and  surges  and  roars  beneath  the 
blast  of  a  hurricane.  The  Police,  Magistrates  and 
de  Ville  were  on  the  alert,  watching,  listen 


296  OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDES. 

ing  and  reconnoitering,  but  were  unable  ta  detect  an 
act  of  violence  or  a  single  cry  of  sedition.  The  in- 
fluence from  above,  divine  in  its  nature,  which  pre- 
served order  among  these  excited  crowds,  was 
plainly  invincible.  Who  then  —  let  us  repeat  the 
question  —  had  committed  this  nocturnal  deed? 
The  Parquet  and  the  Police  could  never  discover 
who  it  was,  in  spite  of  making  the  most  active 
search.  There  were  not  wanting,  however,  some 
prejudiced  persons  bold  enough  to  suspect — doubt- 
less unjustly— the  Parquet  and  the  Police  of  having 
themselves  been  the  authors  of  the  sacrilege,  hop- 
ing by  this  means  to  provoke  disorder  which  might 
furnish  them  with  a  pretext  for  having  recourse  to 
severe  measures.  The  municipal  authorities  pro- 
tested strongly  against  the  imputation  that  they 
had  connived  at  this  scandalous  proceeding.  The 
same  night,  or  early  the  next  morning,  the  Mayor 
ordered  the  pipe  to  be  replaced,  and  all  the  rubbish 
with  which  the  new  Spring  was  obstructed  to  be 
swept  from  off  the  pavement  of  the  Grotto.  It  was 
the  Mayor's  policy  to  avoid  any  decidedly  personat 
interference  and  to  allow  matters  to  rest  as  they 
were.  He  was  ready  to  act,  but  only  as  a  subordi- 
nate, when  expressly  enjoined  to  do  so  by  the  Pre- 
fect and  on  the  latter's  responsibility. 

At  times,  the  people,  fearing  not  to  have  sufficient 
control  over  their  agitated  feelings,  took  precau- 
tions against  themselves.  The  Association  of  Stone- 
hewers,  in  number  four  or  five  hundred,  had  re- 
solved to  make  a  grand  peaceable  demonstration  at 
the  Grotto,  repairing  to  it  in  procession  and  sing 
ing  hymns  on  the  occasion  of  their  patranal  feast, 
Ascension  day,  which  fell  that  year  on  the  thirty- 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOUJRDRS.  297 

first  of  May.  Feeling,  however,  their  hearts  indig- 
nant and  their  hands  quivering  in  presence  of  the 
measures  taken  by  the  authorities,  they  were  afraid 
of  themselves  and  renounced  their  project,  They 
confined  themselves  to  suppressing  on  that  day 
from  a  feeling  of  respect  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  who 
bad  appeared  at  Lourdes,  the  annual  ball  whirh 
served  to  conclude  their  Feast. 

"  We  do  not  wish,"  they  said,  "  that  any  disorder 
however  involuntary,  or  any  amusement  not  recog. 
nized  by  the  Church,  should  afflict  the  eyes  of  the 
Virgin  who  has  visited  us." 

VII. 

THE  Prefect  saw  more  and  more  the  hopelessness 
of  being  able  to  have  recourse  to  coercive  meas- 
ures, owing  to  this  amazing  tranquillity,  this  calm, 
not  less  irritating  than  it  was  marvelous,  which 
reigned  of  its  own  accord  among  these  countless 
multitudes.  There  was  nothing  to  lay  hold  of.  He 
must  either  retrace  his  steps,  and  relinquishing  the 
path  he  had  hitherto  pursued,  leave  the  population 
absolutely  free  to  take  their  own  course,  or,  by 
adopting  measures  of  violence  and  persecution,  op- 
pose,  on  some  pretext  or  other,  an  arbitrary  barrier 
to  the  popular  movement.  He  must  either  beat  a 
retreat  or  boldly  advance. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  variety  and  suddenness 
of  tne  cures  effected,  appeared  to  many  persons  of 
judgment  to  be  but  lamely  accounted  for  by  the 
therapeutic  and  mineral  properties  of  the  new 
Spring.  The  accuracy  of  the  scientific  decision 
furnished  by  M.  Latour  de  Trie,  was  called  into 


298  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

question.  A  chemist  of  the  town,  M.  Thomai 
Pujo,  asserted  that  the  water  was  merely  ordinary 
water,  and  did  not  contain  any  medical  properties. 
Many  very  competent  professors  of  chemistry  in 
the  district  were  of  the  same  opinion.  The  analy- 
sis of  Latour  de  Trie  was  declared  by  men  of 
science  to  be  erroneous.  These  rumors  gained  so 
much  ground  that  the  Municipal  Council  of  Lourdes 
began  to  stir  in  the  business.  The  Mayor  could 
not  well  refuse — in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  all — 
to  allow  a  second  examination  of  the  water  of  the 
Spring  to  be  made.  Without  consulting  the  Pre- 
fect, which,  as  it  appeared  to  him,  would  have  been 
useless — so  deeply  convinced  was  the  latter  that 
M.  Latour  was  correct  in  his  report — he  got  a  reso- 
lution passed  by  the  Municipal  Council,  authorizing 
him  to  intrust  Professor  Filhol,  one  of  the  greatest 
chemists  of  the  present  day,  with  a  new  and  defini- 
tive analysis.  The  council  voted  at  the  same  time 
the  funds  necessary  to  remunerate  the  illustrious 
savant. 

M.  Filhol  was  a  man  of  weight  in  modern  science, 
and  there  would  evidently  be  no  appeal  against  his 
verdict. 

Of  what  nature  would  his  analysis  prove  to  be? 
The  Prefect  was  not  sufficiently  versed  in  chemis- 
try to  know.  But  we  believe,  without  any  fear  of 
deceiving  ourselves  on  the  subject,  that  he  must 
have  been  somewhat  uneasy.  The  verdict  pro- 
nounced by  the  eminent  Professor  of  Chemistry  in 
the  Faculty  of  Toulouse  might  seriously  derange 
the  plans  and  contrivances  of  M.  Massy.  He  real- 
ly had  no  time  to  lose.  Here  again  he  must  beat  a 
retreat  01  advance  boldly. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB.  399 

In  the  midst  of  so  many  different  pai  ty  feelings, 
and  numerous  calculations,  Bernadette  could  not 
escape  being  exposed  to  fresh  attempts,  but  they 
proved  as  useless  as  the  former  ones. 

She  was  preparing  to  make  her  first  communion, 
and  she  made  it  on  the  third  of  June,  the  feast  of 
Corpus  Christi.  It  was  the  same  day  on  which  the 
Municipal  Council  of  Lourdes  commissioned  M. 
Filhol  to  analyze  the  water  of  the  mysterious  Spring 
which  had  some  time  back  gushed  forth  from  under 
the  hand  of  the  youthful  Seer,  when  in  her  state  of 
ecstacy.  God  entering  into  her  child-like  and  girl 
ish  heart,  was  also  making  the  analysis  of  a  pure 
wave,  and  we  may  well  imagine  that  He  could  not 
but  admire  and  bless,  in  her  virgin  soul,  the  fresh- 
est of  Springs  and  the  most  limpid  of  crystals. 

She  continued  to  receive  numerous  visits  not- 
withstanding her  ardent  wish  for  concealment  and 
retirement.  She  was  always  the  simple,  innocent 
child,  whose  portrait  we  have  attempted  to  draw. 
She  fascinated  all  who  approached  her  by  her  can- 
dor, her  striking  sincerity  and  delicate  perfume  of 
calm  piety. 

One  day,  a  lady,  after  having  held  a  conversa- 
tion with  her,  in  an  impulse  of  enthusiastic  venera- 
tion which  may  be  easily  understood  by  those  who 
have  known  Bernadette,  wished  to  exchange  her 
chaplet  of  precious  stones  for  the  one  ordinarily 
used  by  the  child  : 

"  Keep  your  own,  Madam,"  she  replied,  showing 
her  simple  auxiliary  of  prayer.  "  Here  is  mine, 
and  I  would  not  change  it.  It  is  poor  like  myself, 
and  is,  on  that  account,  more  befitting  my  state  of 
indigence." 


30O  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUHDES 

An  ecclesiastic  endeavored  to  prev  ail  on  her  to 
accept  a  piece  of  silver.  She  refused,  and  he  urged 
her  to  take  it.  She  refused  it  again  so  formally 
that  any  further  pressing  seemed  useless.  The 
priest,  however,  would  not  acknowledge  himself 
beaten. 

"  Take  it,"  said  he,  "  it  is  not  for  yourself  but  for 
the  poor,  and  you  will  have  the  pleasure  of  giving 
alms." 

"  Do  that  yourself,  Father,  m  my  intention, '  re- 
plied the  child,  "  and  that  will  avail  more  than  if  I 
did  it  myself." 

It  was  poor  Bernadette's  intention  to  serve  God 
without  payment,  and  to  fulfil  the  luission  she 
had  received  from  on  high  without  emerging  from 
her  state  of  noble  poverty.  And  yet,  she  and  her 
family  were  at  times  in  want  of  bread. 

About  this  time,  the  Prefect's  official  salary  was 
raised  to  25,000  francs.  M.  Jacomet  received  a  do- 
nation. The  Minister  of  Public  Worship,  in  a  let- 
ter which  was  communicated  to  several  functiona- 
ries, assured  the  Prefect  of  his  perfect  satisfaction, 
and  praising  him  for  all  he  had  hitherto  done,  he 
pressed  upon  him  the  adoption  of  energetic  meas- 
ures, adding  that  it  was  necessary  at  any  cost  to 
make  an  end  of  the  Grotto  and  the  miracles  at 
Lourdes. 

In  this  quarter,  as  in  all  the  rest,  the  Prefect  must 
either  beat  a  retreat  or  advance  boldly. 

But  what  could  be  done? 

VIII. 

THE  plan  of  the  dr  ine  work  developed  itseli  by 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDB8.  301 

degrees  with  all  its  admirable  and  powerful  logic. 
But  no  one  at  that  moment,  and  M.  Massy  less  than 
any  one  else,  perceived  the  invisible  hand  of  God 
directing  all  things,  however  manifestly  such  was 
the  case.  It  is  not  in  the  middle  of  a  charge  that 
one  can  judge  of  the  disposition  of  a  battle.  The 
unfortunate  Prefect  having  left  the  straight  path, 
saw  nothing  in  what  was  passing  around  him  but 
an  irritating  series  of  vexing  incidents,  and  an  in- 
explicable fatality.  Remove  God  from  certain  ques- 
tions and  the  inexplicable  will  meet  you  at  every 
turn. 

The  march  of  events,  slow  but  irresistible,  was 
•  ipsetting,  one  by  one,  all  the  theses  of  unbelief, 
and  forcing  the  wretched  philosophy  of  man  to 
beat  a  retreat  and  abandon  its  intrenchments  one 
after  the  other. 

The  Apparitions  had  taken  place.  The  Free- 
thinkers had,  in  the  first  instance,  absolutely  denied 
their  reality,  while  they  accused  the  youthful  Seer 
of  being  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  others,  and  of 
engaging  in  a  series  of  juggler}7  from  mercenary 
motives.  This  theory  did  not  hold  good  when 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  child's  examination. 
Her  veracity  made  a  deep  impression  on  all. 

The  spirit  of  incredulity  driven  out  of  this,  their 
first  position,  had  fallen  back  on  hallucination  and 
catalepsy. 

"  She  fancies  she  sees  ;  she  does  not  see.  There 
is  nothing  in  it." 

Providence,  however,  had  assembled  from  every 
quarter  of  the  horizon  its  thousands  and  thousands 
of  witnesses  round  the  child  in  her  state  of  ecstacy ; 
and  when  the  proper  moment  arrived  had  solemnly 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

attested  the  truth  of  Bernadette's  nai  ration  by 
causing  a  Spring  to  gush  forth  publicly,  before  the 
spell-bound  eyes  of  the  throng  which  had  flocked 
to  the  spot. 

"  There  is  no  Spring,"  the  unbelievers  had  said, 
"  It  is  an  oozing  of  water,  a  pool,  a  small  pond. 
Call  it  what  you  will,  except  a  Spring." 

But  while  they  were  solemnly  and  publicly  de- 
nying its  very  existence,  the  Spring  was  increasing 
almost  like  a  being  endowed  with  life,  and  assuming 
prodigious  proportions.  More  than  25,000  gallons 
issued  daily  from  this  strange  rock. 

"  It  is  accidental,  it  is  a  singular  circumstance," 
Unbelief  had  stammered  out,  reduced  to  despera- 
tion and  recoiling  from  hour  to  hour. 

And  see — events  following  their  invincible  course 
— the  most  striking  cures  had  immediately  attested 
in  every  direction  the  miraculous  character  of  the 
Spring,  and  given  a  new  and  decisive  proof  of  the 
reality  of  the  all-powerful  Apparition,  whose  ges- 
ture had  sufficed  to  cause  this  Fountain  of  Life  to 
gush  forth  from  beneath  the  hand  of  a  mere  mor- 
tal. 

The  first  impulse  of  the  Philosophers  had  been  to 
deny  the  reality  of  these  cures,  as  they  had  denied 
in  the  first  instance  the  sincerity  of  Bernadette,  as 
they  had  denied  the  very  existence  of  the  Spring. 

Yet  suddenly  the  cures  had  become  so  numerous, 
so  notorious,  that  the  enemy  had  been  obliged  to 
beat  a  retreat  and  admit  their  reality. 

"  Well,  be  it  so !  Cures  are  certainly  effected,  but 
they  are  owing  to  the  impregnation  of  mineral  sub- 
stances. The  Spring  possesses  certain  therapeutic 
virtues,"  had  been  the  cry  of  the  incredulous,  hold- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  303 

ing  in  their  hands  I  know  not  what  semblance  of 
a  chemical  analysis.  Then  the  most  astounding 
cures,  which  were  absolutely  inexplicable  by  a  hy- 
pothesis of  this  nature,  had  been  multiplied  to  an 
immense  extent ;  and  simultaneously,  though  from 
opposite  quarters,  several  conscientious  and  enlight- 
ened men,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  science 
of  chemistry,  had  boldly  declared  that  the  Spring 
of  Massabielle  did  not  possess  in  itself  any  mineral 
virtue,  that  it  was  composed  of  ordinary  water,  and 
that  the  purely  official  analysis  furnished  by  M.  La- 
tour  de  Trie  was  solely  intended  to  meet  the  well 
known  views  of  the  Prefect. 

Driven  thus  from  all  the  intrenchments  in  which, 
after  successive  defeats,  they  had  sought  refuge ; 
pursued  by  the  blasting  evidence  of  facts ;  crushed 
beneath  the  weight  of  their  own  admissions,  unable 
to  retract  these  successive  and  forced  admissions, 
which  had  been  publicly  registered  in  their  own 
journals,  what  had  the  Philosophers  and  Free-think- 
ers to  do  ?  The  Philosophers  and  Free-thinkers  had 
but  to  humbly  surrender  their  arms  to  Truth.  They 
had  but  to  bow  their  heads,  to  bend  their  knees,  and 
to  believe ;  they  had  but  to  do  what  is  done  by  the 
ripe  ears  of  corn,  when  the  wheat,  that  gift  of  God, 
comes  by  degrees  to  fill  their  grains,  as  is  mentioned 
by  the  author  of  the  Essays.  "  It  has  happened," 
says  Montaigne,  "  to  really  learned  persons,  as  it 
happens  to  spikes  of  corn.  They  stand  erect  and 
hold  their  heads  high,  as  long  as  they  are  empty ; 
but,  when  they  are  full  and  heavy  with  ripe  grain, 
they  begin  to  bow  down  and  lower  themselves  to- 
wards the  ground.  In  like  manner,  men,  after  hav- 
ing tried  everything  and  sounded  everything,  have 


504  OUR  LAD 7  OF  LOURDE8. 

renounced  their  presumption  and  acknowledged 
their  natural  condition." 

It  may  be,  the  Philosophers  of  Lourdes  did  not 
possess  enough  of  largeness  and  strength  of  mind  to 
apprehend  the  good  seed  of  truth.  It  may  be,  their 
pride  rendered  them  inflexible  and  impervious  to 
the  clearest  evidence.  One  thing  is  certain,  that, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  who  were  happily  con- 
verted, there  did  not  happen  to  them  what  happens 
"  to  really  learned  persons,"  and  they  continued  "  to 
hold  their  heads  high,"  like  the  empty  ears  of  corn. 

Not  only  did  they  maintain  their  attitude  of  in- 
credulity ;  but  impiety,  driven  with  shame  and  dis- 
grace from  quibble  to  quibble,  from  sophism  to 
sophism,  from  one  falsehood  to  another,  and  reduced 
to  the  most  absurd  shifts,  suddenly  threw  off  the 
mask,  and  exposed  its  full  deformity.  It  passed,  we 
would  say,  from  the  realm  of  discussion  and  reason- 
ing, which  it  had  attempted  to  usurp,  to  that  of 
intolerance  and  violence,  which  really  belongs  to  it. 

Baron  Massy,  who  was  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  state  of  the  public  mind  in  general,  saw 
plainly  with  his  unerring  coup  (Fail,  that,  if  he  took 
arbitrary  measures  and  openly  had  recourse  to  per- 
secution, he  would  derive  considerable  moral  sup- 
port from  the  exasperation  of  the  Free-thinkers, 
who  were  entirely  discomfited,  humiliated,  and  con- 
sequently furious. 

He  also  had  been  vanquished  so  far  in  the  analo- 
gous if  not  identical  struggle  into  which  he  had  en- 
tered with  the  Supernatural.  All  his  efforts  had 
failed. 

Issuing  from  the  inmost  recess  cl  a  solitary  rock, 
announced  by  the  voice  of  a  child,  the  Supei 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDB&  305 

natural  had  commenced  its  march,  overturning  aL 
obstacles,  dragging  the  multitude  in  its  train,  and 
gaining  on  its  passage  the  enthusiastic  shouts,  pray- 
ers, cries  of  gratitude,  and  exclamations  of  the  pop- 
ular faith. 

Once  more,  what  still  remained  to  be  done  ? 

To  withstand  the  clearest  evidence,  and  to  take 
violent  measures  against  the  throng  of  believers. 

IX. 

IN  the  midst  of  all  these  strangely  varied  events, 
the  question  regarding  the  stables  of  the  Prefecture 
was  discussed  with  ever-increasing  warmth,  and 
had  worked  up  the  Prefect  to  the  highest  pitch  of 
exasperation.  The  month  of  June  had  arrived. 
The  bathing-season  was  commencing,  and  would 
bring  to  the  Pyrenees  invalids  and  tourists  from  ev- 
ery part  of  Europe,  who  would  be  witnesses  of  the 
scandal  which  the  Supernatural  was  creating  in  the 
Department  administered  by  Baron  Massy.  The 
instructions  of  M.  Rouland  were  of  the  most  urgent 
nature,  and  pressed  the  interference  of  the  author- 
ities. On  the  sixth  of  June,  M.  Fould,  Minister  of 
Finance,  stopped  at  Tarbes  on  his  way  to  his  coun- 
try residence,  and  had  a  long  conference  with  M. 
Massy.  A  report  circulated  that  the  events  at  the 
Grotto  formed  the  subject  of  their  discussion. 

The  fact  of  going  to  drink  at  a  spring,  the  road 
to  which  passed  through  the  common  lands  belong- 
ing to  the  town,  did  not,  however,  constitute  a  crim- 
inal act  in  the  eyes  of  the  law.  It  was,  therefore, 
of  the  highest  importance,  that  the  genius  of  the 
enemies  of  Superstition  should  discover  some  pre- 


306  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

text  for  interference.  Arbitrary  power  has  not  in 
France,  as  in  Russia  or  in  Turkey,  the  rights  of  citi 
zenship,  and  it  requires  the  mask  of  legality. 

The  subtle  Prefect  had,  on  this  subject,  an  inspir- 
ation as  ingenious  as  it  was  simple.  As  the  Rocks 
of  Massabielle  formed  part  of  the  lands  belonging 
to  the  commune  of  Lourdes,  the  Mayor,  as  guard 
ian  of  the  interests  of  the  town,  had  the  power  of 
prohibiting  any  one  from  approaching  them  whether 
he  might  have  reasons  for  so  doing  or  not,  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  proprietor  prohibits  when  he  likes  and 
whom  he  likes  to  enter  his  house  or  trespass  on  his 
estate. 

A  prohibition  of  this  kind,  publicly  proclaimed, 
exposed  every  visitor  to  the  charge  of  a  specified 
misdemeanor — that  of  the  violation  of  property. 

By  so  crafty  a  proceeding,  an  act,  absolutely  in- 
nocent in  itself,  was  transformed  into  one  of  a  criminal 
nature,  liable  to  the  penalties  attached  to  it  by  law. 

The  whole  scheme  of  M.  Massy  gravitated  round 
this  idea,  and  this  plan  having  once  been  hit  upon, 
he  resolved  to  act  and  to  act  despotically. 

The  next  day,  the  Mayor  of  Lourdes  received 
instructions  to  issue  the  following  order : 

THE  MAYOR  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  LOURDES, 

Considering  the  instructions  addressed  to  him  b~ 

the  superior  authorities, 

The  laws  of  the  I4th  and  22d  of  December,  1789. 

of  i6th  and  24th  of  August,  1790,  of  iQth  ana  22d 

of  July,  1791,  and  that  of  the  i8th  of  July,  1837,  on 

the  Municipal  Administration  ; 

Considering,  that  it  is  important,  with  a  view  to 

the  interests  of  Religion,  to  bring  to  a  close  the  scenes 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB. 

so  much  to  be  regretted  which  are  taking  place  at  the 
Grotto  of  Massabielle,  situate  at  Lourdes,  on  tho 
left  bank  of  the  Gave ; 

Considering,  on  the  other  hand,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  Mayor  to  watch  over  the  public  health  in  his  lo- 
cality ; 

Considering,  that  a  great  number  of  those  in  his 
jurisdiction,  as  also  of  persons  strangers  to  the  com- 
mune, come  to  draw  water  at  a  certain  Spring  in  the 
said  Grotto ; 

Considering  that  there  are  serious  reasons  for 
thinking  that  this  water  contains  mineral  ingredi- 
ents, and  that  it  is  prudent  before  permitting  its 
use  to  wait  until  a  scientific  analysis  should  make 
known  the  applications  which  medical  science  may 
make  of  it ;  that,  in  addition  to  this,  the  Law  sub- 
jects the  working  of  Springs  of  mineral  water 
to  the  preliminary  authorization  of  the  Govern- 
ment; 

ORDERS  : 

First  Article. — It  is  forbidden  to  take  any  water 
from  the  said  Spring. 

Second  Article. — It  is  equally  forbidden  to  pass 
over  the  communal  lands  going  by  the  ;iame  of  the 
"  Rive  de  Massabielle." 

Third  Article. — To  prevent  access  to  the  Grotto, 
a  barrier  will  be  placed  at  its  entrance. 

Notices  will  also  be  posted,  as  follows,  "  Persons 
are  forbidden  to  trespass  on  this  property." 

Fourth  Article. — All  infraction  of  the  present  Or- 
der will  be  prosecuted  according  to  Law. 

Fifth  Article. — The  Commissary  of  Police,  tha 
Gendarmerie,  the  Gardes  Champetres,  and  the  Au- 


jo8  OUR  LADY  OF  LOU3DES. 

thorities  of  the  commune  are  charged  with  the  exe- 
cution of  the  present  Order. 
Done  at  Lourdes,  at  the  Mayorality,  8th  of  June, 

1858. 

A.  LACADE,  Mayor. 

Seen  and  approved, 

C.  MASSY,  Prefect 

X. 

IT  was  not  without  some  hesitation  that  M.  La- 
cad£  consented  to  sign  an  order  of  this  nature,  and 
to  put  such  a  measure  into  execution.  His  somewhat 
undecided  nature,  fond  of  pursuing  a  middle  course 
and  liking  to  swim,  as  they  said,  with  the  current, 
could  not  but  regard  with  considerable  alarm  such 
an  act  of  decided  hostility  against  the  strange  power 
which  plainly  hovered  over  all  the  events  of  which 
the  Grotto  of  Lourdes  was  the  centre.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  should  always  be  the  case,  the  May- 
or was  attached  to  his  official  position,  and,  as  the 
wags  asserted,  somewhat  in  love  with  his  official 
scarf.  He  must,  however,  become  the  instrument 
of  the  Prefect's  violent  courses  or  resign  his  hon- 
ors. The  alternative  was  embarrassing  to  the  first 
magistrate  of  Lourdes,  though  we  cannot  term  it  a 
very  grave  one,  without  feeling  a  disposition  to 
smile  at  the  weakness  of  poor  human  nature.  M. 
Lacad6  hoped  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty,  by  re- 
questing the  Prefect,  as  the  condition  of  his  attach- 
ing his  own  signature  to  the  document,  to  insert  at 
the  beginning  of  the  order,  and,  as  it  were,  its  open- 
ing  sentence,  "  With  reference  to  instructions  address- 
ed to  /lint  by  the  superior  A  vt/tori\  ies" 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  309 

*•  By  these  means,"  observed  the  Mayor,  '  I  am 
entirely  freed  from  any  responsibility  as  regards  the 
pubHc  or  myself.  I  have  not  taken  the  initiative ;  I 
remain  neuter.  I  do  not  command ;  I  am  simply 
obeying.  I  do  not  give  this  order ;  I  receive  it.  I 
I  do  not  proclaim  this  measure ;  I  merely  carry  it 
into  execution.  All  the  responsibility  rests  on  my 
immediate  superior,  the  Prefect. 

From  a  private  in  a  regiment  of  the  line,  this  style 
of  reasoning  would  have  been  unexceptionable. 

With  his  mind  thus  set  at  rest,  M.  Lacad£  watch- 
ed over  the  execution  of  the  Prefect's  decree.  He 
had  it  published  with  sound  of  trumpet,  and  pla- 
carded all  over  the  town.  At  the  same  time,  under 
the  protection  of  an  armed  force,  and  the  directions 
of  Jacomet,  barriers  were  erected  around  the  Rocks 
of  Massabielle,  so  as  to  entirely  prevent  all  access 
to  the  Grotto  and  the  miraculous  Spring,  unless  by 
breaking  them  down  or  scaling  them.  Posts  with 
notices  attached  to  them  were  placed  here  and 
there,  at  all  points  whereby  the  people  might 
penetrate  the  communal  lands  with  which  the  ven- 
erated Rocks  were  surrounded,  absolutely  forbid- 
ding any  one  to  trespass  on  the  grounds  belonging 
to  the  commune,  under  penalty  of  prosecution  before 
the  tribunals.  The  Sergents  de  Ville  and  Garden 
Champ&res  kept  watch  day  and  night,  relieving  each 
other  every  hour,  and  drawing  up  official  reports 
against  such  as  passed  the  outer  posts  for  the  pur- 
pose of  going  and  kneeling  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Grotto. 

There  was  a  Juge  de  Paix  at  Lourdes  called  Du- 
prat.  He  was  as  inveterate  a  foe  to  Superstition,  as 
were  the  Jacomets,  Massys,  Dutours,  and  other  con- 


310  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

stituted  authorities.  This  judge,  being  unaWe  un- 
der the  circumstances  to  inflict  any  but  the  smallest 
possible  fines  on  delinquents,  imagined  an  indirect 
way  of  rendering  these  fines  enormous  and  really 
formidable  to  the  poor  folks  who  came  from  all  di- 
rections to  pray  in  front  of  the  Grotto  and  request 
at  the  hands  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  one,  the  recov- 
ery of  health  long  broken  ;  a  second,  the  cure  of  a 
much-loved  child  ;  a  third,  some  spiritual  grace,  or 
some  consolation  in  overwhelming  sorrow. 

M.  Duprat,  finding  them  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor, 
sentenced  the  culprits  to  a  fine  of  five  francs  each. 
But,  by  a  conception  worthy  of  his  genius,  he  com- 
bined in  a  single  judgment  all  those  who  had  vio- 
lated the  Prefect's  prohibition,  whether  by  forming 
part  of  the  same  throng,  or  even,  as  it  appeared,  by 
repairing  to  the  Grotto  in  the  course  of  the  same 
day.  When  he  sentenced  them,  he  made  them  all 
jointly  and  severally  liable  for  the  costs.  Con- 
sequently should  one  or  two  hundred  persons  have 
gone  to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  each  of  them  was 
made  liable  to  pay,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  all 
the  rest ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  pay  out  500  or  1000 
francs.  And  yet,  since  the  individual  and  original 
sentence  amounted  only  to  a  fine  of  five  francs,  this 
magistrate's  decision  could  not  be  appealed  from  to 
a  superior  court,  and  there  was  no  means  of  obtaining 
redress.  The  judge  was  omnipotent,  and  this  is  a 
specimen  of  the  way  in  which  he  exerted  his  omnip- 
otence. 

XII. 

THIS  somewhat  brutal  interference  of  the  locai 
Government  with  the  question  to  which  the  scenes 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDEB.  311 

enacted  on  the  banks  of  the  Gave,  for  some  months 
past,  had  given  rise,  implied  on  the  part  of  those 
who  governed  not  only  the  denial  of  anything 
supernatural  having  occurred,  but  further  of  its 
possibility.  In  fact  had  the  Administration  admitted 
for  one  moment  the  possibility  of  the  Apparition 
they  would  have  adopted  very  different  measures. 
In  that  case  their  aim  would  have  been  to  have  had 
the  matter  thoroughly  sifted,  whereas  the  course 
now  followed  plainly  tended  to  hushing  it  up. 

One  fact  was  absolutely  certain :  the  cures  effected. 
Whether  produced  by  the  mineral  and  therapeu- 
tic nature  of  the  water,  or  by  the  imagination  of  the 
invalids  themselves,  or  by  means  of  direct  miracu- 
lous agency,  these  cures  were  palpable  and  officially 
recognized  by  the  incredulous  themselves,  who  being 
unable  to  reject  them,  sought  only  to  account  for 
them  in  a  natural  way. 

Hundreds  and  thousands  of  loyal  witnesses — 
whose  testimony  was  beyond  all  suspicion — affirmed 
unhesitatingly  that  their  cure  had  been  effected  by 
f.he  use  of  the  water  at  the  Grotto.  Not  one  was 
to  be  found  to  whom  it  had  proved  fatal  or  in 
whom  it  had  produced  evil  consequences.  Why  then 
have  recourse  to  these  prohibitive  measures,  these 
lofty  barriers,  this  armed  force,  menacing  personal 
liberty,  and  this  system  of  persecution  ?  Why,  if 
such  measures  were  permitted,  were  they  not  car- 
ried to  their  logical  conclusion?  Why  not  close 
every  place  of  pilgrimage  where  the  sick  had  re- 
covered their  health,  every  church  in  which  the 
taithful  owing  t'*  their  prayers  believed  they  had 
received  some  particular  Grace  from  God  ? 

Such  were  the  questions  asked  in  every  quarter. 


312  OUB  LAD7  OF  LOURDE8. 

"  If  Bernadette,"  observed  some,  "  had  simply 
covered  a  mineral  spring  possessing  powerful  cura- 
tive virtues,  without  alluding  to  Visions  and  Appa- 
ritions, what  Authority  would  have  had  the  bar- 
barity to  prevent  invalids  repairing  to  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drinking  its  waters?  Under  the  rule  of 
Nero  such  a  thing  would  not  have  been  attempted, 
and  all  governments  would  have  voted  a  reward  to 
the  child.  But  here,  invalids  kneel  down  before 
commencing  their  prayers,  and  the  understrappers 
of  office,  flaunting  cotton,  silver  or  gold  lace,  who 
kiss  the  dust  before  their  own  masters,  are  not 
pleased  that  others  should  prostrate  themselves 
before  God.  This  is  the  real  question.  It  is  prayer 
Tvhich  is  the  object  of  their  persecution." 

"  But  Superstition  ?"  observed  the  Free-thinkers. 

"  Is  not  the  Church  at  hand  to  watch  and  guard 
the  faithful  against  error  ?  Let  her  act  in  her  own 
province,  and  do  not  transform  the  Council  of  the 
Prefecture  into  an  Ecumenical  Council,  or  a  Prefect 
or  Minister  into  an  infallible  Pope.  What  disorder 
has  arisen?  None.  What  evil  has  taken  place  which 
might  justify  your  measures  and  prohibitions  ? 
None.  The  mysterious  Spring  has  done  naught 
but  good.  Suffer  then  the  believing  portion  of  the 
population  to  resort  to  it  and  drink  of  its  water,  if 
they  see  right  to  do  so.  Leave  them  the  liberty  of 
believing,  praying  and  of  being  cured ;  the  liberty 
of  turning  themselves  towards  God,  and  demand- 
ing from  the  powers  on  high  some  assuagement  of 
their  sorrows.  Free-thinkers,  tolerate  the  freedom 
of  prayer." 

But  neither  the  anti-christian  philosophers  nor 
the  pious  Prefect  of  the  Hautes-Pyrenees  consented 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 


3*3 


to  pay  any  regard  to  so  unanimous  a  cry,  and  rigor- 
ous  measures  pursued  their  course. 

That  intolerance  with  which  the  Catholic  Church 
is  so  unjustly  reproached  by  the  enemies  of  Chris- 
tianity, is  in  reality  the  dominant  passion  of  the 
latter.  They  are  from  their  very  nature  tyrants 
and  persecutors. 


SEVENTH  BOOK. 
I. 

H  E  Clergy  continued  to  refrain  from  repairing 
to  the  Grotto,  and  kept  themselves  studiously 
aloof  from  the  movement.  The  orders  of  Monseig- 
neur  Laurence  in  this  matter  were  rigidly  obeyed 
throughout  the  diocese. 

The  masses  of  the  population,  cruelly  agitated  by 
the  persecution  of  the  Administration,  turned  with 
anxiety  towards  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  to 
whom  God  had  committed  the  direction  and  de- 
fense of  the  faithful,  and  looked  forward  to  an 
energetic  protest  on  the  part  of  the  Bishop  against 
the  violence  done  to  their  own  religious  liberty. 

Their  expectations,  however,  were  not  realized. 
Monseigneur  preserved  an  absolute  silence  and  suf- 
fered the  Prefect  to  proceed.  Further-  M.  Massy 
had  it  inserted  in  his  journals  that  he  was  acting  in 
concert  with  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  and, 
to  the  amazement  of  all,  the  Bishop  did  not  con- 
tradict the  assertion.  The  mind  of  the  people  was 
troubled. 

From  the  very  first,  the  extreme  prudence  of  the 
Clergy  had  been  little  understood  or  appreciated  by 
the  ardent  faith  of  the  multitude.  At  the  stage  which 
(3'4) 


OUR  LADY  OF  LCJRDS8.  315 

events  had  now  reached,  after  so  many  proofs  of  the 
reality  of  the  Apparitions  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
after  the  gushing  forth  of  the  Spring,  and  so  many 
cures  and  miracles,  this  excessive  reserve  on  the 
part  of  the  Bishop  in  presence  of  the  persecutions 
adopted  by  the  Authorities  appeared  to  them  an  in- 
explicable disloyalty.  The  respect  they  entertained 
for  his  character  or  person  did  not  entirely  suffice 
to  restrain  the  expression  of  popular  murmurs, 

Why  not  boldly  pronounce  his  judgment  at  a 
time  when  the  elements  of  certainty  were  so  abun- 
dantly at  hand  from  all  quarters  ?  Why  not.  at  any 
-ate,  issue  his  orders  for  an  investigation,  or  have 
the  question  studied  and  some  examination  of  it 
undertaken,  so  as  to  guide  every  one's  faith  and 
prevent  misconception.  Were  not  events,  which 
were  sufficient  to  bewilder  the  civil  power,  and 
cause  the  up-heaving  of  whole  populations,  worthy 
of  the  Bishop's  attention  ?  Did  not  the  Prelate's 
obstinate  silence  justify  the  Prefect  in  acting  as  he 
did?  If  the  Apparition  was  false,  was  it  not  the 
duty  of  the  Bishop  to  enlighten  the  Faithful  on  the 
subject,  and  arrest  the  progress  of  error  at  once  ? 
If  it  was  true,  was  it  not  his  duty  to  oppose  him- 
self to  the  persecution  undergone  by  those  who 
believed,  and  courageously  to  defend  the  work  of 
God  against  the  malice  of  men  ?  Would  not  a 
single  step  taken  by  the  Bishop,  an  investigation,  for 
instance,  instituted  by  him,  have  hindered  the  Pre- 
fect from  entering  on  that  course  of  persecution  to 
which  he  had  now  pledged  himself?  Were  the 
Priests  and  the  Bishop  then  deaf  to  so  many 
prayers  and  exclamations  of  gratitude  which  were 
rising  from  the  base  of  this  Rock,  destined  to  ^ternal 


Si6  OUR  LADT  OP  LOUEDBB. 

celebrity,  on  which  the  Mother  of  the  crucified 
God  had  rested  her  virginal  foot  ?  Had  the  Letter 
killed  the  Spirit  ?  Were  they,  like  the  Pharisai- 
cal priests  mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  blind  to 
the  lightning-like  splendor  of  so  many  miracles? 
Were  they  so  occupied  in  administering  the  con- 
cerns of  the  Church,  and  so  absorbed  in  their  cleri- 
cal functions,  that  the  almighty  hand  of  God,  ap- 
pearing outside  the  temple,  was  either  entirely  over- 
looked by  them  or  deemed  by  them  an  incident  of 
no  importance.  Was  it  then  under  such  circum- 
stances, when  God  was  intervening  and  persecu- 
tion beginning  to  rage,  that  the  Bishop  should  walk 
last,  as  if  he  were  bringing  up  the  rear  of  a  pro- 
cession ? 

This  clamor  rose  from  the  midst  of  the  assembled 
throng  and  kept  increasing.  The  Clergy  were 
charged  with  indifference  or  hostility,  the  Bishop 
with  timidity  or  weakness. 

Owing  to  the  logical  course  of  events  and  the 
natural  bent  of  the  human  heart,  this  vast  move- 
ment of  men  and  ideas,  so  essentially  religk  us  in 
its  commencement,  threatened  to  take  an  anti-eccle- 
siastical turn.  The  masses  of  the  people,  full  of  faith 
in  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Holy  Trinity,  but  full 
also  of  discontent — irritated  against  the  prc  longed 
keeping  aloof  of  the  Clergy,  displayed  a  tendency 
to  rush  towards  the  Church  in  which  the  divine 
strength  dwells,  and  to  desert  the  sacristy,  where, 
beneath  the  sacerdotal  robes,  is  found  but  too  often 
the  feebleness  of  man. 

Monseigneur  Laurence  continued,  however,  to 
preserve  his  attitude  of  reserved  inaction.  What 
were  the  Prelate's  reason*  or  resisting  that  voice 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  317 

of  the  people  which  is  sometimes  the  voice  of 
Heaven  ?  Was  it  prudence  inspired  by  God  ?  Was 
it  merely  human  prudence?  Was  it  shrewdness? 
Was  it  mere  weakness? 

II. 

To  believe  is  no  easy  matter.  In  spite  ot  so  many 
glaring  proofs,  Monseigneur  Laurence  had  still  some 
doubts  and  hesitated  to  act.  His  extremely  learned 
faith,  did  not  get  over  the  ground  so  rapidly  as  did 
the  faith  of  his  simple-minded  neighbors.  God,  who 
shows  himself,  so  to  speak,  all  at  once  to  simple 
and  ignorant  souls,  who  cannot  be  enlightened  by 
human  studies,  is  sometimes  pleased  to  impose  a 
longer  and  more  patient  research  on  cultivated  and 
highly-educated  persons,  who  are  capable  of  arriv- 
ing at  truth  by  the  paths  of  labor,  investigation  and 
reflection.  Like  the  Apostle  Thomas,  when  he  re- 
fused to  believe  the  testimony  of  the  other  disciples 
and  of  the  Holy  Women,  Monseigneur  Laurence 
would  have  liked  to  have  seen  everything  with  his 
eyes  and  touched  everything  with  his  hands.  Of  a 
precise  intellect,  rather  inclined  towards  the  practi- 
cal than  leaning  towards  the  ideal,  and  naturally 
distrustful  of  popular  exaggerations,  the  Prelate 
was  one  of  those  who — by  I  know  not  what  peculiar 
instinct — gave  a  cold  reception  to  the  passionate 
feelings  of  others,  and  willingly  supposed  that  we  are 
apt  to  be  led  astray  by  our  emotions  and  deceived 
by  our  enthusiasm.  Although,  at  times,  he  was 
deeply  struck  by  so  many  extraordinary  events,  he 
was  so  afraid  of  affirming  on  slight  grounds  that 
they  resulted  from  supernatural  agency,  that  ho 


OUR  LADY  Of  LOVMDES. 

might  perhaps  have  run  the  risk  of  rejecting  tn« 
idea  altogether,  or  of  only  acknowledging  it  when 
too  late,  had  not  the  grace  of  God  tempered  and 
confined  within  just  limits  that  natural  bent  of  his 
mind  which  we  have  just  pointed  out  to  our  reader. 

Not  only  did  Monseigneur  Laurence  hesitate  to 
pronounce  his  own  judgment,  but  even  to  command 
an  official  investigation.  A  Catholic  Bishop,  and 
deeply  imbued  with  the  necessity  of  keeping  up  the 
external  dignity  of  the  Church,  he  was  not  without 
fears  of  compromising  the  gravity  of  this  Mother  ol 
the  human  race,  by  launching  her  prematurely  into 
the  solemn  examination  of  all  these  singular  facts 
with  which  he  had  not  himself  a  sufficient  personal 
acquaintance,  and  which  might,  after  all,  have  no 
foundation  beyond  the  silly  tales  of  a  little  shepherd 
girl,  and  the  vain  illusions  of  some  poor  fanatics. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Bishop  would 
never  have  advised  the  measures  taken  by  the  civil 
authorities,  and  they  met  with  his  decided  disap- 
probation. But  since  the  evil  was  done,  was  it  not 
prudent  to  derive  from  it  the  incidental  good  which 
might  be  one  of  its  results  ?  Was  it  not  wise — if, 
by  chance,  the  popular  belief  and  account  were 
erroneous  —  to  leave  this  pretended  supernatural 
fact  to  its  own  resources  and  to  allow  it  to  fight 
its  own  battle  by  itself  against  the  hostile  investiga- 
tion and  persecution  of  M.  Massy,  the  Free-thinkers 
and  Savants,  who  had  formed  a  league  together  to 
overturn  Superstition  ?  It  would  be  better,  there- 
fore, to  wait  and  not  to  be  in  a  hurry  to  engage  in 
a  conflict  with  the  civil  power,  which  might,  per- 
haps, prove  useless.  "  I  deplore  the  measures  now 
taken  as  much  as  you  do,"  the  Bishop  was  wont  to 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 


319 


observe  in  his  own  private  circle  to  those  who  urged 
him  to  interfere  ;  "  but  not  being  charged  with  the 
police  department,  nor  consulted  by  any  of  the 
authorities,  I  can  but  let  things  take  their  course. 
Every  one  is  responsible  for  his  own  acts.  I  have 
had  nothing  to  do  up  to  the  present  moment  with 
the  acts  of  the  civil  authorities  as  regards  the 
Grotto,  and  I  congratulate  myself  on  having  done 
so.  Later  on,  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  will  see 
if  there  is  anything  to  be  done." 

Actuated  by  this  spirit  of  prudence  and  for- 
bearance, the  Bishop  desired  the  Clergy  of  his 
diocese  to  urge  the  people  to  remain  calm  and  to 
employ  their  influence  to  make  them  submit  to  the 
decree  of  the  Prefect. 

It  appeared  to  the  Bishop  that  the  wisest  part 
would  be  to  avoid  all  disorder ;  not  to  create  new 
embarassments ;  to  favor  even,  from  a  feeling  of  re- 
spect for  the  principle  of  Authority,  the  execution 
of  the  measures  ordered  by  the  local  government, 
and  to  see  what  turn  events  might  take. 

Such  were  the  views  of  Monseigneur  Lawrence, 
as  may  be  gathered  from  his  correspondence  at 
that  period.  Such  were  the  considerations  which 
determined  his  attitude  and  inspired  his  conduct. 

Perhaps  he  would  have  reasoned  very  differently, 
had  he  possessed,  at  that  time,  the  ardent  faith  of 
the  multitude.  But  it  was  well  that  he  reasoned 
and  acted  in  this  way ;  it  was  well  that  he  did  not 
yet  believe.  We  subjoin  some  grave  reasons. 

It  Monseigneur  Lawrence,  with  the  prudence 
required  of  him  as  Bishop,  regarded  the  matter 
with  an  eye  to  the  possibility  of  its  being  grounded 
on  error,  God,  in  his  infinite  clear-sightedness,  re- 


3 JO  OPR  LADY  OP  LOURDE8. 

garded  it  only  as  connected  with  the  immutable 
certainty  of  His  acts  amd  truth  of  His  work.  God 
willed  that  this  work  should  undergo  the  proof  of 
time,  and  should  affirm  its  own  claims  by  surmount- 
ing, without  the  assistance  of  any  one,  the  painful 
barriers  of  persecution.  Now,  if  the  Churchman, 
the  Bishoo,  had  from  the  very  first  believed  in  the 
reality  of  so  many  Apparitions  and  Miracles,  would 
he  have  been  able  to  resist  the  generous  impulses 
of  his  apostolic  *'.eal,  or  hesitate,  for  one  moment, 
to  interfere  energetically  against  the  persecutions 
of  the  faithful,  against  the  enemies  of  the  work  of 
God?  If  he  had  had  entire  faith  in  the  fact  that  the 
Mother  of  God  had  really  appeared  in  his  diocese, 
demanding  the  erection  of  a  temple  to  her  own 
glory,  and  curing  such  aj  were  sick,  could  he 
have  balanced,  for  one  single  moment,  between  the 
will  of  the  eternal  Queen  of  Heaven  and  Earth  and 
the  paltry  opposition  of  a  Massy,  a  Jacomet  or  a 
Rouland  ?  Certainly  not.  With  such  a  faith  in  his 
heart,  the  Bishop,  like  St.  Ambrose  of  old  at  Milan, 
could  not  but  have  started  up,  cross  in  hand  and  mi- 
tre  on  head,  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  civil  authorities. 
Publicly,  at  the  head  of  the  believers,  undeterred 
by  any  fear  of  man,  he  would  have  gone  to  drink 
at  the  divine  Spring,  to  bend  his  knees  before  the 
blessed  Rock  which  the  Virgin  had  sanctified  by 
the  touch  of  her  feet,  and  to  lay  the  first  stone,  in 
that  wild  spot,  of  a  magnificent  temole  to  the  Im- 
maculate Mary. 

But  in  thus  defending  the  work  v>f  God  in  the 
Present,  the  Prelate  would  infallibly  have  weakened 
it  for  Futurity.  The  support  which  might  have 
been  afforded  it  in  its  commencement  would  have 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES.  331 

compromised  it  at  a  more  advanced  period,  and 
laid  it  open  to  the  suspicion  of  having  emanated 
not  from  God  but  from  men.  The  more  the  Bishop 
kept  himself  outside  the  movement  and  displayed  a 
repugnance,  nay  hostility  towards  the  faith  of  the 
people,  the  more  the  supernatural  work  displayed 
its  strength,  in  triumphing  without  any  external 
assistance;  by  its  own  resources,  its  intrinsic  truth 
and  innate  force — in  defiance  of  the  animosity  or 
withdrawal  of  all  that,  in  this  world,  bears  the 
name  of  power. 

Providence  had  resolved  that  this  should  be  so, 
and  that  the  grand  fact  of  the  Apparition  of  the 
most  blessed  Virgin,  in  the  nineteeth  century, 
should  pass,  like  Christianity  in  its  infancy,  through 
trials  and  persecution.  'It  was,  therefore,  necessary, 
to  carry  out  the  divine  scheme,  that  the  Bishop,  far 
from  taking  the  initiative,  should  be  one  of  the 
longest — I  was  going  to  say  one  of  the  hardest — to 
surrender,  and  should  only  yield  at  last,  after  all 
the  rest,  to  the  unexceptionable  weight  of  the  tes- 
timony adduced  and  the  irresistible  evidence  of 
facts. 

And  for  this  cause  was  it  that  God,  in  His  secret 
designs,  had  placed  in  the  episcopal  chair  of  the 
diocese  of  Tarbes  the  eminent  and  guarded  man 
whose  portrait  we  have  sketched.  For  this  cause 
had  it  pleased  Him  to  withhold  from  Monseigneui 
Laurence,  in  the  commencement,  faith  in  the  reality 
of  the  Apparition,  and  to  keep  his  mind  in  a  state 
of  doubt  notwithstanding  so  many  astonishing 
events.  It  formed  part  of  His  heavenly  plan,  under 
such  circumstances,  to  confirm  in  the  Prelate  that 
temporizing  and  prudent  spirit  with  which  He  had 
14*  « 


J32  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDB8 

BO  largely  endowed  him,  and  to  leave  to  his  episco- 
pal wisdom  that  character  of  long  hesitation  and 
extreme  deliberation  which,  in  the  midst  ot  the 
general  effervescence,  was  unintelligible  to  the  m  alti- 
tude, though  the  future  was  destined  to  show  to 
the  eyes  of  all  its  admirable  results  and  providential 
utility. 

The  people  possessed  the  virtue  of  Faith,  but 
their  impatient  ardor  would  have  willingly  urged 
the  Clergy  to  interfere  prematurely.  The  Bishop 
had  the  virtue  of  Patience,  but  his  eyes  were  not 
yet  opened  to  the  truth  of  the  supernatural  work 
which  was  being  accomplished  before  him,  and  for- 
cibly striking  every  one.  Complete  wisdom,  and  all 
things  duly  proportioned,  were,  as  is  always  the 
case,  in  God  alone,  who  was  directing  all  events, 
and  whose  almighty  hand  was  turning  to  the  fulfill- 
ment of  His  object  and  tending  to  the  immutable 
order  of  His  designs  the  enthusiasm  of  the  multi- 
tude and  the  hesitation  of  the  Prelate. 

It  was  the  will  of  God  that  the  Church,  in  the 
person  of  the  Bishop,  should  abstain  from  taking 
any  important  part,  and,  keeping  herself  constantly 
aloof  from  the  struggle,  should  appear  at  the  last 
moment  only  to  close  authoritatively  this  grand  de- 
bate and  openly  declare  the  Truth. 

III. 

THE  population,  less  calm  and  less  patient  than 
the  Bishop,  carried  away  with  enthusiasm  on  seeing 
the  great  things  which  were  being  enacted  be- 
fore them,  and  touched  by  the  miraculous  cures 
which  were  daily  increasing  in  number,  did  nc\ 
9 


OUll  LADY  OP  LOURDES. 


3*3 


nowever,  suffer  themselves  to  be  arrested  in  their 
course  by  the  violent  measures  of  the  Administra- 
tion. 

The  most  intrepid,  in  defiance  of  tribunals  and 
fines,  cleared  the  barriers  and  betook  themselves  to 
prayer  in  front  of  the  Grotto,  after  having  thrown 
their  names  to  the  Gardes  who  kept  watch  at  the 
entrance  of  the  communal  lands.  Among  these 
Gardes  were  several  who  sympathized  with  the 
faith  of  the  multitude,  and  these  also  got  into  the 
habit  of  kneeling  at  the  entrance  of  the  venerated 
place  as  soon  as  they  reached  the  spot  and  before 
they  were  posted  as  sentinels.  Placed,  as  they 
were,  between  the  crust  of  bread  which  their 
poorly-paid  position  of  Sergent  de  Ville,  or  Can- 
tonnier,  gave  them,  and  the  repugnant  employment 
imposed  upon  them,  these  poor  fellows,  in  their 
prayer  to  the  Mother  of  the  weak  and  indigent, 
threw  the  responsibility  of  the  wretched  orders 
they  executed  on  the  authorities,  who  forced  them 
to  act.  Notwithstanding  this,  they  strictly  fulfilled 
their  task,  and  duly  reported  the  names  of  delin- 
quents. 

Although  many  believers,  in  the  impetuosity  of 
their  zeal,  would  most  willingly  have  exposed  them- 
selves to  danger  in  order  to  go  and  publicly  invoke 
the  Virgin  at  the  place  of  the  Apparition,  yet  the 
style  of  jurisprudence  adopted  by  M.  Duprat  was 
eminently  calculated  to  fill  the  multitude  with 
alarm,  as  his  nominal  fine  of  five  francs,  as  we  have 
explained,  might  mount  up  to  an  enormous  sum. 
A  sentence  of  this  kind  would  have  been  utterly 
ruinous  to  many  persons,  more  especially  to  the 
very  poor.  The  majority  of  them  accordingly 


324  OUR  LADY  OF  LOVRDE8. 

endeavored  to  escape  the  rigorous  surveillance  of 
persecuting  power. 

Sometimes  the  Faithful,  respecting  the  barriers 
at  which  the  Gardes  were  stationed  on  the  boundary 
of  the  communal  lands,  reached  the  Grotto  by 
cross-roads.  One  of  the  party,  left  in  the  r^ar, 
kept  a  look-out  and  warned  his  companions,  by  a 
preconcerted  signal,  of  the  arrival  of  the  police.  In 
this  manner  invalids  were,  with  considerable  diffi- 
culty, transported  to  the  miraculous  Spring.  The 
official  authorities,  on  being  informed  of  these  in- 
fractions of  their  orders,  doubled  the  number  of 
sentinels  and  cut  off  all  access  by  these  paths. 

Some  might  be  seen  swimming  across  the  Gave, 
in  defiance  of  the  swiftness  of  its  current,  for  the 
purpose  of  coming  to  pray  in  front  of  the  Grotto 
and  drinking  at  the  holy  Fountain.  The  darkness 
of  night  was  favorable  to  these  violations  of  the 
law,  which  daily  increased  in  number,  notwith- 
standing the  zeal  and  activity  of  the  Police  agents. 

The  influence  of  the  Clergy  had  been  diminished, 
not  to  say  compromised,  by  the  reasons  we  have 
explained. 

In  spite  of  their  efforts  to  conform  themselves  to 
the  injunctions  of  the  Bishop,  the  priests  discover- 
ed their  utter  inability  to  calm  the  agitated  minds 
of  their  hearers,  and  to  impress  upon  them  that 
even  the  arbitrary  acts  of  Power  were  entitled  to 
respect.  "  Only  what  is  respectable  can  claim  re- 
spect, '  was  a  revolutionary  watchword  which  found 
an  echo  in  every  heart.  The  personal  ascendency 
of  the  Cur£  of  Lourdes — loved  and  revered  though 
he  was — began  tD  pale  before  the  popular  irrita* 
tion. 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDB8.  325 

Order  was  menaced  by  the  very  measures  adopt, 
ed  under  pretext  of  ensuring  its  maintenance.  The 
masses,  outraged  in  the  belief  they  held  most  dear, 
oscillated  between  submission  and  violence.  If,  on 
the  one  hand,  petitions  to  the  Emperor  were  uni- 
versally signed,  demanding  in  the  name  of  liberty 
of  conscience,  the  withdrawal  of  the  Prefect's  de- 
cree; on  the  other,  the  boards,  with  which  the 
Grotto  was  closed,  were  broken  night  after  night 
and  thrown  into  the  Gave.  Jacomet  exerted  him- 
self in  vain  to  discover  who  were  the  believers, 
with  so  little  respect  for  Authonty,  as  to  commit  a 
misdemeanor  hitherto  unknown  to  our  codes — noc- 
turnal prayer  accompanied  with  the  breaking  open 
and  destruction  of  fences. 

In  order  to  avoid  rendering  themselves  liable  to 
prosecution,  the  faithful  often  went  to  prostrate 
themselves  against  the  posts  which  marked  the  ex- 
terior boundary  of  the  communal  lands.  It  was 
a  silent  protest  against  the  measures  of  the  civil 
authority,  and,  as  it  were,  a  silent  appeal  to  the  om- 
nipotence of  God. 

On  the  day  when  the  Court  of  Pau  reversed  the 
sentence  pronounced  by  the  Tribunal  of  Lourdes 
against  one  of  the  three  women  prosecuted  for  some 
trifling  remarks  on  the  subject  of  the  Grotto,  and 
confirmed  the  acquittal  of  the  two  others,  the  crowd 
collected  in  the  vicinity  of  the  barrier  was  immense^ 
and  uttered  shouts  of  victory.  They  could  not 
contain  themselves  and  cleared  the  barrier  in  com- 
pact masses,  without  returning  any  reply  to  the 
summons  and  terrified  shouts  of  the  agents  of  Police, 
who,  disconcerted  by  the  check  they  had  experi- 
enced at  Pan,  and  feeling  alarmed  at  coming  into 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

collison  with  so  many  thousands  of  men,  retired 
and  suffered  the  torrent  to  pass. 

The  next  day  orders  and  remonstrances  from  the 
Prefect  came  to  revive  the  courage  of  the  PoKcc 
and  to  prescribe  a  still  more  strict  surveillance.  The 
force  at  their  disposal  was  augmented,  and  dismissal 
in  case  of  failure  was  hinted  to  the  agents.  Re- 
doubled rigor  was  the  order  of  the  day. 

Reports  of  a  sinister  nature,  absolutely  false,  but 
craftily  circulated  and  easily  credited  by  the  multi- 
tude, threatened  the  delinquents  with  imprisonment. 
The  actual  penalties  not  being  sufficient,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  produce  a  kind  of  panic  in  the  mind 
of  the  faithful  by  the  employment  of  imaginary 
menaces. 

By  some  means  or  other,  any  open  infractions  oi 
the  law  were  prevented  from  being  renewed  foi 
some  days. 

Sometimes,  unfortunate  creatures,  coming  from  a 
distance,  suffering  from  paralysis,  blindness  or  some 
one  or  other  of  those  melancholy  infirmities  which 
medical  science  leaves  to  their  fate,  and  which  God 
alone  possesses  the  secret  of  curing,  went  to  the 
Mayor  and  besought  him  with  clasped  hands  to 
suffer  them  to  seek  their  last  chance  of  recovery  at 
the  miraculous  Fountain.  The  Mayor,  obstinately 
adhering  to  the  Prefect's  programme,  and  display- 
ing in  the  execution  of  the  measure  adopted  that 
energy  in  trifling  details  with  which  weak  minds 
often  deceive  themselves,  refused,  in  the  name  of 
the  higher  Authorities,  the  permission  which  was 
demanded.  Inexcusable  cruelty,  official  reports 
were  drawn  up  against  the  sick  themselves. 

The  great  majority  of  such,  then  repaired  to  the 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  337 

right  bank  of  the  Gave,  immediately  opposite  the 
Grotto.  There  was  collected  there  on  certain  days 
an  innumerable  throng,  on  whom  the  officials  had 
no  hold  for  the  land  trampled  upon  by  these  mul- 
titudes oelonged  to  private  individuals,  who  believ- 
ed they  should  brin?  down  on  themselves  the  bene- 
diction of  heaven  oy  permitting  the  pilgrims  to 
come  and  kneel  down  in  their  meadows  and  to  pray 
in  them,  their  eyes  turned  towards  the  scene  of  the 
Apparitions  and  the  miraculous  Fountain. 

About  the  time  when  these  vast  multitudes  were 
being  assembled,  poor  Bernadette,  worn  out  by  her 
asthma,  and  doubtless  wearied  by  the  visits  of  so 
many  strangers,  fell  sick. 

In  his  extreme  anxiety  to  calm  the  public  mind, 
and  remove  to  a  distance  every  cause  of  agitation, 
the  Bishop  availed  himself  of  this  circumstance  to 
advise,  indirectly,  Bernadette 's  parents  to  send  her 
to  the  baths  of  Cauterets,  which  are  not  very  far 
from  Lourdes.  It  would  be  the  means  of  with- 
drawing the  youthful  Seer  from  those  dialogues,  in- 
terrogations and  accounts  of  the  Apparitions,  which 
every  one  received  with  avidity,  and  which  served 
to  feed  the  popular  emotion.  The  Soubirous,  un- 
easy about  Bernadette's  state  of  health,  and  being 
jonvinced  in  their  own  minds  that  these  perpetual 
visits  were  breaking  her  down,  confided  her  to  the 
care  of  one  of  her  aunts,  who  was  herself  going  to 
Cautarets.  She  offered  to  take  upon  herself  the 
trifling  expenses  of  the  child's  trip,  which  would 
cost  but  little  at  that  season  of  the  year,  when  the 
warm-baths  are  almost  deserted.  The  noble  and 
the  rich  do  not  repair  to  them  till  somewhat  later 
on  in  the  year,  and  a  few  poor  people  from  tha 


328  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

mountains  have  Cautarets  all  to  themselves  during 
the  month  of  May. 

Bernadette,  out  of  health,  seeking  silence  and  re. 
pose,  and  wishing  to  withdraw  herself  as  much  as 
possible  from  public  curiosity,  remained  there  drink- 
ing the  waters  for  two  or  three  weeks. 

IV. 

IN  proportion  as  the  month  of  June  drew  to  a 
close,  the  great  bathing  season  in  the  Pyrenees  was 
commencing. 

Bernadette  had  returned  to  her  father's  house  at 
Lourdes. 

The  bathing  places  were  soon  thronged  with  in- 
valids, tourists,  travelers,  explortrs,  others  attract- 
ed by  simple  curiosity,  and  savants  from  every 
direction,  coming  by  the  thousand  roads  with  which 
Europe  is  intersected.  These  sombre  mountains, 
so  solitary  and  wild  all  the  rest  of  the  year,  were 
peopled  by  degrees  by  a  mass  of  visitors,  belong- 
ing, for  the  most  part,  to  the  highest  circles  of  so- 
ciety of  the  great  cities.  From  July,  the  Pyrenees 
are  a  faubourg  of  Paris,  London,  Rome  or  Berlin. 
French  and  foreigners  meet  each  other  in  the  re- 
freshment rooms,  elbow  each  other  in  the  saloons, 
walk  about  in  the  mountain  paths,  and  take  excur- 
sions on  horseback  in  every  direction,  along  tne 
banks  of  babbling  streams,  on  the  rugged  peaks  or 
the  flowery  turf  of  umbrageous  valleys.  Ministers 
tired  of  active  business ;  deputies  and  senators 
weary  of  harranguing  themselves  or  listening  to 
the  harangues  of  others ;  bankers,  diplomatists,  mer- 
chants, ecclesiastics,  magistrates,  authors,  men  of  the 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDS8.  329 

world,  come  to  lay  in  a  stock  of  health,  not  only  at 
these  widely-famed  springs,  but  in  this  keen  and 
pure  mountain  air,  which  stirs  up  the  blood  to 
greater  activity  and  renders  the  mind — I  know  not 
how — more  sprightly  and  free  to  exercise  its  pow- 
ers. In  this  society,  so  varied ;  this  throng  of  cos- 
mopolites, so  essentially  fluctuating  and  diverse, 
representatives  of  every  belief  and  every  shade 
of  unbelief,  every  school  of  philosophy  grave  or 
gay,  every  opinion  and  every  system  might  have 
been  found.  It  was  a  microcosm ;  it  was  an  epi- 
tome of  Europe,  which  in  the  natural  course  of 
things  and  at  the  appointed  hour,  Providence  was 
ushering  into  the  presence  of  the  supernatural 
events  and  miracles  which  were  taking  place  on 
the  threshold  of  the  Pyrenees.  God  was  carrying 
out  His  eternal  plans.  In  the  same  way  as  of  yore, 
at  Bethlehem,  He  had  shown  Himself  to  the  shep- 
herds long  before  He  showed  Himself  to  the  royal 
Magi ;  so,  at  Lourdes,  He  had  in  the  first  instance 
summoned  the  lowly,  the  humble,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  lonely  mountains ;  and  it  was  only  after  these 
that  He  called  together  the  rich  and  brilliant,  the 
sovereigns  of  wealth,  intellect  and  art,  to  become 
spectators  of  His  divine  work. 

Strangers  hurried  to  Lourdes  from  Cautarets, 
Bareges,  Luz,  Saint  Sauveur,  Eaux  -  Bonnes  and 
Bagneres-de-Bigorre.  The  town  was  alive  with 
dashing  equipages,  drawn,  as  is  the  custom  of  the 
country,  by  four  stout  horses,  harnessed  and  decked 
with  glaring  colors  and  tinkling  bells. 

The  great  majority  of  pilgrims  or  travelers  did 
not  take  much  heed  of  orders  and  barriers.  They 
defied  threats  of  prosecution  and  repaired  to  the 


330 


OUR  LADY  OF   LOURDES. 


Grotto,  some  from  a  sentiment  of  religious  faith 
others  actuated   by   a   lively   feeling   of  curiosity 
They  wished  to  see,  and  they  did  see  the  persons 
who  had  been  cured.     Bernadette  received  innu 
merable  visits.     In  all  the  saloons  at  the  warm-bath 
ing  establishments,  the  events  we  have  related  form- 
ed the  topic  of  every  conversation.      By  degrees 
public  opinion  was  formed,  no  longer  the  opinion  of 
the  little  nook  of  country  of  forty  or  fifty  leagues 
which  extends  at  the  base  of  the  Pyrenees  from 
Bayonne  up  to  Toulouse  or  Foix,  but  the  opinion 
of  France  and  of  Europe,  which  were  represented 
at  that  moment  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountains  by 
visitors  of  every  class,   every  idea  and   of  every 
country. 

The  violent  measures  of  M.  Massy,  inasmuch  as 
they  caused  as  much  vexation  to  the  curiosity  of 
some  as  they  did  to  the  piety  of  others,  were  loudly 
blamed  by  all  parties.  The  former  declared  them 
illegal,  while  the  latter  deemed  them  inexpedient ; 
all  agreed  in  declaring  them  utterly  powerless  to 
stem  the  prodigious  movement  of  which  the  Grotto 
and  the  miraculous  Spring  formed  the  centre.  The 
absolute  certainty  of  the  Prefect's  ultimate  failure 
made  even  those  judge  him  with  severity  who  par- 
ticipated in  his  horror  of  the  Supernatural,  and  who 
in  the  commencement  would  willingly  have  ap- 
plauded his  policy.  Men  in  general,  and  more 
especially  in  the  caste  of  Free-thinkers,  judge  the 
actions  of  those  in  power  much  more  by  their  visi- 
ble resu.ts  than  by  philosophical  principles.  Suc- 
cess is  the  surest  means  of  obtaining  approval. 
Failure  is  a  two-fold  misfortune,  for  universal  blame 
is  almost  always  superadded  to  the  public  humilia- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUBDSB.  331 

tion  whic.h  attends  a  want  of  success.  The  Baron 
was  suffering  from  the  attacks  of  this  two-fold  mis- 
fortune. 

There  were  circumstances  when  the  zeal  of  the 
Police  and  the  municipal  courage  of  Jacomet  him- 
self were  sorely  tried.  Illustrious  personages  some- 
times transgressed  the  limits  of  the  enclosure.  One 
day  there  was  arrested  a  stranger  —  a  man  with 
marked  and  expressive  features  —  who  was  advanc- 
ing towards  the  poteau,  evidently  with  the  intention 
of  going  to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle. 

"  You  cannot  pass." 

"  You  will  soon  see  whether  I  can  pass  or  not," 
replied  the  stranger  as  he  entered  carelessly  the 
communal  lands  and  directed  his  steps  towards  the 
place  of  the  Apparition. 

"  Your  name  ?  I  shall  make  out  a  report  against 
you." 

"  My  name  is  Louis  Veuillot,"  answered  the 
stranger. 

While  the  report  was  being  drawn  up  against 
that  celebrated  writer,  a  lady  had  passed  the  boun- 
dary a  few  paces  behind  and  had  gone  to  kneel 
against  the  barrier  of  boarding  which  closed  the 
Grotto.  From  between  the  openings  of  the  palisade 
she  was  watching  the  miraculous  Spring  gushing 
forth  and  was  praying.  What  was  she  demanding 
of  God  ?  Was  her  soul  turning  itself  towards  the 
present  or  the  future  ?  Was  she  praying  for  her- 
self, or  for  others  who  were  dear  to  her  and  with 
whose  destiny  she  was  charged  ?  Was  she  implor- 
ing the  blessings  and  protection  of  Heaven  for  an 
individual  or  a  family  ?  No  matter. 

This  woman  engaged  in  prayer  had  not  escaped 


LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

the  vigilant  eyes  which  represented  the  policy  of 
the  Prefect,  the  Magistracy  and  the  Police. 

The  Argus  quitted  M.  Veuillot  and  rushed  to 
wards  the  kneeling  woman. 

"  Madame,"  said  he,  "  nobody  is  permitted  to 
pray  here.  You  are  taken  in  the  very  act ;  you  will 
have  to  answer  for  this  before  the  Juge  de  Paix> 
presiding  over  the  Correctional  Tribunal,  and  with- 
out appeal.  Your  name  ?  " 

"  Willingly,"  said  the  lady.  "  I  am  the  wife  of 
Admiral  Bruat,  and  Governess  of  His  Highness, 
the  Prince  Imperial." 

No  one  in  the  world  had  a  higher  respect  for  the 
social  hierarchy  and  established  authorities  than  the 
formidable  Jacomet.  He  dropped  his  accusation. 

Scenes  of  this  nature  were  often  renewed.  To 
prosecute  certain  persons  was  alarming  to  the 
agents  of  the  Prefect  and  might  have  caused  some 
uneasiness  to  that  high  functionary  himself.  It  was 
a  deplorable  state  of  things.  The  powerful  dis- 
obeyed the  decree  with  impunity,  while  the  weak 
were  treated  with  the  utmost  severity. 

The  weights  and  measures  used  varied  according 
to  circumstances. 

V. 

THE  question,  however,  raised  by  these  super- 
natural events,  by  the  Apparitions,  true  or  false,  of 
the  Virgin,  by  the  gushing  forth  of  the  Spring,  by 
the  miraculous  cures,  genuine  or  counterfeit,  could 
not,  b.2  il  agreed,  remain  for  ever  in  suspense.  It 
was  absolutely  necessary  that  all  these  things  should 
be  submitted  to  a  proper  and  severe  investigation, 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  333 

Strangers,  who  had  not  been  in  these  districts  ex- 
cept for  a  short  season,  had  not  been  present  at  the 
commencement  of  these  extraordinary  events,  and 
who  had  not  been  able,  like  the  people  of  the 
country,  to  come  to  any  reasonable  conviction 
were  unanimous  —  in  the  midst  of  the  different 
~~^>unts  and  various  appreciation  they  heard  on  all 
sides  —  in  expressing  their  astonishment  at  the 
complete  silence  and  apparent  indifference  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities.  Much  as  they  blamed 
the  interference  of  the  civil  power,  they  did  not  less 
condemn  the  extent  to  which  the  religious  power 
personified  in  the  Bishop  had  kept  aloof. 

The  Free-thinkers,  interpreting  the  long  hesita- 
tions and  present  attitude  of  the  Prelate  to  their 
own  liking,  thought  themselves  sure  of  his  verdict. 
The  friends  of  M.  Massy  began  to  cry  loudly  that 
Monseigneur  Laurence  agreed  with  the  Prefect  in 
his  appreciation  of  what  had  taken  place.  They 
threw  on  the  Bishop  the  entire  responsibility  of  the 
violent  measures  which  had  been  adopted.  "  The 
Bishop,"  they  said,  "  might  arrest  the  progress  of 
Superstition  by  a  single  word.  The  only  thing  re- 
quired was  that  he  should  bc.dly  pronounce  his 
judgment.  The  civil  authorities  have  only  been 
forced  to  act  in  his  default." 

The  believers,  taking  into  consideration  the  evi- 
dence adduced  of  the  miraculous  facts,  looked  upon 
themselves  as  equally  certain  of  a  solemn  decision 
in  favor  of  their  faith. 

Others — and  among  these  a  great  number  of 
strangers  —  had  not  come  to  any  conviction  or  de- 
cided views  on  the  question,  and  sought  to  be  re- 
lieved trom  their  state  of  uncertainty  by  some  defi- 


334  °UB  LADY  OF  LOURDEB. 

nitive  investigation.  "  Of  what  use  are  the  religious 
authorities,"  they  observed,  "  if  it  is  not  to  decide 
questions  ot  this  nature  and  to  settle  the  faith  of 
such  as  owing  to  distance,  want  of  documents,  or 
any  other  cause,  are  unable  to  examine  and  decide 
for  themselves." 

The  Bishop's  palace  was  beseiged  with  com- 
plaints of  this  kind.  To  the  murmur  of  the  mult' 
tude  was  joined  the  voice  of  the  classes  usually 
termed  enlightened,  though  frequently  the  little 
lights  of  earth  made  them  lose  sight  of  the  Great 
Light  of  Heaven.  An  investigation  was  demanded 
from  all  quarters. 

The  supernatural  cures  continued  to  be  effected. 
From  a  hundred  sources  official  reports  of  these 
cures,  signed  by  numerous  witnesses,  were  for- 
warded to  the  residence  of  Monseigneur  Laurence. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  July,  the  feast  of  Our  Lady 
of  Mount  Carmel,  Bernadette  had  heard  within  her 
the  voice  which  had  for  some  months  been  silent, 
and  which  now  no  longer  summoned  her  to  the 
Rocks  of  Massabielle,  then  closed  and  guarded,  but 
to  the  right  bank  of  the  Gave,  into  those  meadows 
where  the  multitude  used  to  assemble  to  pray,  safe 
from  prosecutions  and  the  vexatious  proceedings 
of  the  Police.  It  was  about  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  Scarcely  had  the  child  knelt  down  and 
commenced  the  recitation  of  her  chaplet,  when  the 
Blessed  Mother  of  Jesus  Christ  appeared  to  her. 
The  Gave,  which  separated  her  from  the  Grotto, 
had  almost  vanished  from  her  sight  as  soon  as  the 
ecstacy  came  over  her.  She  saw  naught  before  her 
but  the  blessed  Rock — to  which  she  seemed  to  be 
as  near  as  on  former  occasions  —  and  the  Immacu' 


OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDE8.  335 

.ate  Virgin,  who  smiled  sweetly  upon  her  as  if  to 
confirm  all  the  past  and  shed  lighten  all  the  future 
Not  a  word  proceeded  from  her  divine  lips.  At  a 
certain  moment  She  bowed  Her  head  towards  the 
child  as  if  to  tell  her,  "  We  shall  meet  again  at  some 
very  distant  period,"  or  to  bid  her  a  last  farewell. 
After  this  She  disappeared  and  re-entered  Heaven. 
This  was  the  eighteenth  Apparition  and  it  was  the 
last 

In  a  different  or  entirely  opposite  sense,  some 
strange  events  happened  which  it  is  of  importance 
to  point  out.  Three  or  four  different  times  some 
women  and  children  asserted  that  they  had  had 
visions  like  those  of  Bernadette. 

Were  these  visions  true  ?  Was  the  Devil  trying 
to  mix  up  his  mysteries  with  those  of  God  in  order 
to  trouble  them  ?  Or  were  these  singular  phenorr 
ena  attributable  only  to  derangement  of  mind,  ill- 
regulated  enthusiasm,  or  the  perverse  and  mischiev- 
ous tricks  of  some  naughty  children  ?  Or  must 
we  seek  for  some  hostile  hands,  concealing  them- 
selves treacherously  in  the  back-ground,  who  were 
pushing  these  visionaries  to  the  front  with  the  object 
of  throwing  discredit  on  the  miraculous  events  at 
the  Grotto  ?  We  cannot  tell. 

The  multitude,  with  their  thousands  of  eyes  fixed 
on  all  these  details,  with  their  intuitive  perception 
and  the  necessity  they  felt  of  coming  to  some  con- 
clusion, were  less  reserved  in  their  judgments  than 
we  are  ourselves. 

The  hypothesis  that  these  self-styled  visionaries 
were  incited  by  underhand  manoeuvres  on  the  part 
of  the  Police  assumed  immediately,  right  or  wrong, 
a  very  serious  hold  on  the  mind  of  the  public,  which 


336  OUR  J^ADT  OF  LOURDS& 

had  nad  become  deeply  imbued  with  distrust.  The 
two  or  three  children  who  claimed  to  have  seen 
Apparitions  mixed  up  all  kinds  of  absurdities  with 
their  story,  which  was  in  other  respects  sufficiently 
incoherent.  One  day  they  clambered  over  the  bar- 
rier formed  of  boards  which  inclosed  the  Grotto, 
and  under  pretence  of  offering  their  services  to  the 
pilgrims,  drawing  some  of  the  water  for  them,  and 
of  sanctifying  their  chaplets  by  contact  with  the 
blessed  Rock,  they  received  from  them  and  appro- 
priated to  themselves  sundry  presents.  Jacomet, 
who  might  so  easily  have  arrested  them,  suffered 
them  to  remain  unmolested.  He  sometimes  affected 
to  be  unconscious  of  these  strange  scenes,  ecstacies, 
and  infringement  of  the  Prefect's  orders,  sometimes 
to  be  absent  at  the  time  they  occurred.  From 
these  surprising  proceedings  on  the  part  ol  th*. 
very  crafty  and  sharp-sighted  Commissary,  every 
one  concluded  that  it  was  one  of  those  dark  under- 
hand pieces  of  roguery,  of  which  men  connected 
with  the  Police,  and  even  with  the  Administration, 
are  — too  frequently,  perhaps  —  considered  capable. 
'•'  Baron  Massy,"  they  said,  "  finding  himself  de- 
serted by  public  opinion,  and  being  convinced  by 
experience  of  the  impossibility  of  putting  a  stop  to 
what  was  going  on  by  the  assistance  of  violence,  is 
attempting  to  dishonor  the  miracles  by  fomenting 
false  visionaries,  of  whom  he  will  afterwards  make 
a  great  fuss  in  the  newspapers  and  with  the  govern- 
ment. Is  fecit  cut  prodest" 

Whatever  might  be  the  value  of  these  suspicions 
— and  most  probably  they  were  unjust — such  scenes 
might  disturb  the  public  mind.  The  Cur£  of 
Lourdes,  roused  by  these  scandals,  lost  no  time  in 


OUR  LADY    OF  LOUHDEb. 

dismissing  with  disgrace  the  youthful  visionaries 
from  the  catechism  c.ass,  and  declared  that  if  any- 
thing of  the  kind  occurred  again,  he  would  himself 
take  care  to  institute  a  severe  investigation  and  dis- 
cover the  real  instigators. 

The  attitude  and  threats  of  the  Curd  produced  a 
sudden  and  radical  effect.  The  pretended  visions 
ceased  there  and  then,  and  nothing  more  was  heard 
of  them.  They  had  only  lasted  four  or  five  days. 

The  AbbtS  Peyramale  made  the  Bishop  acquaint- 
ed with  this  incident.  As  for  M.  Jacomet  he  on  his 
part  forwarded  to  the  proper  authorities,  a  report, 
coached  in  hyperbolical  and  romantic  language,  of 
which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter. 

This  audacious  attempt  of  those  hostile  to  the 
movement,  to  dishonor  it  and  alter  its  nature,  added 
weight  to  the  already  very  sufficient  reasons  with 
which  the  Bishop  was  urged  to  act.  Everything 
combined  to  show  that  the  moment  for  interference 
had  arrived,  and  that  the  religious  authorities 
should  no  longer  delay  their  investigation  and  fin  il 
judgment. 

Some  men  of  the  highest  consideration  in  the 
Christian  world,  such  as  Monseigneur  de  Salinis, 
Archbishop  of  Auch  ;  Monseigneur  Thibaud,  Bish- 
op of  Montpellier ;  Monseigneur  de  Garsignies, 
Bishop  of  Soissons ;  M.  Louis  Veuillot,  chief  editor 
of  the  Univers ;  some  personages  less  known,  but 
of  tolerable  notoriety,  Monseigneur  de  Ressdgnier, 
formerly  deputy  ;  M.  Vene,  Chief  Engineer  of  the 
Mines  and  Inspector-General  of  the  Pyreneanwarm 
baths,  and  a  great  number  of  eminent  Catholics 
happened  to  be  in  the  district  at  the  time.  All  of 
them  had  studied  the  extraordinary  events  which 
15 


338  OUR  LADY  OF  LOVRDES 

rorm  the  subject  of  our  history ;  all  :>;"  them  had 
visited  and  interrogated  Bernadette,  and  all  of  them 
had  either  believed  or  were  inclined  to  believe  in 
the  truth  of  her  story.  One  of  the  most  revered  oi 
our  Bishops  was  said  to  have  been  unable  to  re- 
strain his  emotion  on  hearing  the  youthful  Seer 
repeat  her  tale,  so  purely  simple  and  bearing  so 
trongly  the  impress  of  truth.  On  contemplating 
this  little  girl,  on  whose  brow  the  gaze  of  the  in- 
effable Mother  of  God  had  rested,  the  Prelate  had 
not  been  able  to  resist  the  first  impulse  of  his  melted 
heart.  He,  a  prince  of  the  Church,  had  prostrated 
himself  before  the  majesty  of  this  lowly  peasant- 
girl. 

"  Pray  for  me,  bless  me  and  my  flock,"  said  he  to 
her  with  a  voice  choking  with  emotion,  and  so 
agitated  that  his  knees  almost  refused  to  perform 
their  office. 

"  Rise,  Monseigneur.  It  is  for  you  to  bless  this 
child,"  exclaimed  the  Curd  of  Lourdes,  who  was 
present  at  the  scene,  seizing  the  Bishop  eagerly  by 
the  hand  to  assist  him  in  rising. 

However  suddenly  and  rapid  was  the  movement 
of  the  Priest,  Bernadette  had  anticipated  it ;  and 
full  of  confusion  in  her  humility  she  bowed  her  head 
low  beneath  the  Prelate's  hand.  The  Bishop  blessed 
her,  but  not  without  shedding  tears. 

VI. 

THE  clear  and  sagacious  mind  of  the  Bishop  of 
Tarbes  could  not  fail  of  being  deeply  struck  by 
the  combination  of  events,  the  testimony  of  so  many 
serious  men.  ani  the  knowledge  of  their  conviction 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  335 

after  mature  examination.  Monseigneur  Lawience 
judged  that  the  time  for  speaking  had  arrived,  an<£ 
he  at  length  broke  silence.  On  the  28th  of  July,  he 
issued  the  tollowing  mandate,  which  was  immediate- 
ly known  throughout  the  diocese  and  produced  an 
immense  sensation ;  for  every  one  felt  that  the  ex- 
traordinary state  of  things  which  had  engrossed 
public  attention  for  so  many  months  was  at  length 
approaching  a  settlement. 

MANDATE  of  Monseigneur  the  Bishop  of  Tarbes 
constituting  a  Commission  charged  with  furnish- 
ing an  official  report  on  the  authenticity  and  na- 
ture of  events  which  have  occurred,  about  six  months 
ago,  on  the  occasion  of  an  Appariation,  true  or  pre- 
tended, of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  a  Grotto,  situated 
to  the  west  of  the  town  of  Lourdes. 

Bertrand  Severe-Laurence,  by  the  divine  mercy 
and  the  favor  of  the  Holy  Apostolic  See,  Bishop  of 
Tarbes. 

To  the  Clergy  and  Faithful  of  our  diocese, 
health  and  the  benediction  in  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Facts  of  grave  import  connected  with  Religion, 
which  agitate  the  diocese,  and  are  re-echoed  far 
and  wide,  have  occurred  since  the  eleventh  of  last 
February. 

Bernadette  Soubirous,  a  young  girl  of  Lourdes, 
iged  fourteen  years,  is  said  to  have  had  visions  in 
the  Grotto  of  Massabielle,  situated  west  of  the  said 
town ;  the  Immaculate  Virgin  is  said  to  have  ap 
peared  to  her.  A  Fountain  is  said  to  have  risen 
there.  The  water  of  this  Fountain  either  used  as  a 
•drink  or  applied  as  a  lotion  is  said  to  have  effected 


£40  OUR   LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

a  great  number  of  cures,  which  cures  are  said  to  be 
miraculous.  People  have  come  and  still  come  both 
from  our  own  and  the  neighboring  dioceses,  seeking 
the  cure  of  their  different  maladies  by  the  use  of 
this  water,  invoking  at  the  same  time  the  Immacu- 
late Virgin. 

The  civil  Authorities  have  bestirred  themselves 
in  the  matter. 

From  every  quarter,  since  the  month  of  March 
last,  the  ecclesiastical  Authorities  have  been  re- 
quested to  explain  their  views  touching  this  extem- 
poraneous pilgrimage. 

We  at  first  thought  that  the  time  had  not  come 
for  us  to  stir  with  any  useful  results  in  this  matter; 
that,  in  order  to  establish  firmly  the  judgment 
expected  from  us,  it  behoved  us  to  proceed  with 
sage  deliberation,  to  distrust  the  first  impulse  of 
enthusiasm,  to  allow  the  public  mind  to  calm  itself, 
to  afford  due  time  for  reflection  and  to  beseech  em 
lightenment  for  an  attentive  and  satisfactory  investi- 
gation. 

Three  classes  of  persons  appealed  to  our  de- 
cision, but  from  entirely  different  points  of  view. 

The  first  consists  of  such  as,  refusing  to  enter 
into  any  examination  of  the  question  in  point,  see 
nothing  in  the  occurrences  at  the  Grotto,  and  the 
cures  attributed  to  the  water  of  the  Fountain,  but 
superstition,  jugglery  and  means  of  duping  others. 
It  is  evident  we  cannot  embrace  their  opinion  a 
priori  and  without  serious  investigation.  Their 
organs  talked  at  first — and  that  very  loudly  —  of 
superstition,  trickery  and  insincerity  ;  they  affirmed 
that  the  occurrences  at  the  Grotto  were  grounded 
on  sordid  self-interest  and  culpable  cupidity,  and 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  34? 

thus  wounded  the  moral  sense  of  our  Christian 
population.  To  deny  everything  and  to  impugn 
the  intentions  of  others  is  the  easiest  way,  we  allow 
of  solving  difficulties ;  but,  to  say  nothing  of  its  not 
being  very  honest,  it  is  unreasonable  and  more  cal- 
culated to  produce  irritation  than  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  others.  To  deny  the  possibility  of  super- 
natural intervention  is  to  become  the  disciples  of  a 
superannuated  school,  to  abjure  the  Christian  religion 
and  to  follow  blindly  the  track  of  the  infidel  philo- 
sophy of  the  last  century.  As  Catholics  we  cannot, 
in  circumstances  like  the  present,  either  take  the 
advice  of  persons  who  deny  that  God  has  the 
power  of  making  exceptions  to  the  general  laws 
which  He  has  established  for  the  government  of 
the  world,  the  work  of  his  hands,  nor  can  we  enter 
into  any  discussion  with  them  in  order  to  ascertain 
whether  such  or  such  a  fact  is  supernatural,  inas- 
much as  they  proclaim  beforehand  that  the  Super- 
natural is  impossible.  Is  this  as  much  as  to  say 
that,  with  regard  to  the  question  in  point,  we  reject 
a  full,  sincere  and  conscientious  discussion,  en- 
lightened by  science  and  the  progress  it  has  made  ? 
Certainly  not :  on  the  contrary  we  challenge  it.  It 
is  our  wish  that  these  facts  should  be  first  submitted 
to  the  severe  rules  of  certitude  which  are  admitted 
by  sound  philosophy,  and  that  afterwards  in  order 
to  decide  whether  such  facts  are  supernatural  and 
divine,  there  should  be  summoned  to  the  discussions 
of  these  grave  and  difficult  questions  men  who  have 
devoted  themselves  to  and  are  well  versed  in  the 
science  of  mystic  theology,  medicine,  natural  philo- 
sophy, chemistry,  geology,  etc.,  etc. ;  in  fact,  that 
Science  may  be  heard  and  pronounce  its  judgment 


342  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

Above  ah  things  it  is  our  wish  that  no  means  of 
arriving-  it  ihe  truth  be  omitted. 

Thuv  is  i  second  class  of  persons  who  neither 
approve  noi  blame,  but  suspend  their  judgment ; 
before  pledging  themselves  to  any  opinion,  they 
desire  to  know  the  decision  of  the  competent 
authorities  and  are  most  anxious  to  have  it  pro- 
nounced. 

There  is  lastly,  a  third  and  very  numerous  class 
of  persons  who  have  already  formed  their  convic- 
tions, though  somewhat  prematurely,  regarding  the 
matter  which  engrosses  us.  They  are  waiting  with 
the  greatest  impatience  for  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese 
to  pronounce  his  judgment  on  an  affair  of  so  much 
gravity.  Although  they  expect  our  decision  to  b* 
Javorable  to  their  pious  sentiments,  we  know  suffi- 
ciently well  their  submission  to  the  Church  to  feel 
assured  that  they  will  accept  our  judgment,  of 
whatever  nature  it  may  be,  as  soon  as  it  is  made 
known  to  them. 

It  is  therefore,  with  the  object  of  enlightening 
the  religion  and  piety  of  so  many  thousands  of  the 
faithful,  of  satisfying  a  want  of  the  public,  of  fixing 
uncertainty,  and  of  calming  the  minds  of  all,  that 
we  yield  to-day  to  the  pressure  which  has  long  been 
brought  to  bear  on  us  from  so  many  quarters,  and 
endeavor  to  throw  light  on  occurrences  of  the 
deepest  interest  to  the  Faithful,  as  affecting  the 
worship  of  Mary  and  religion  itself.  We  have 
resolved,  for  this  purpose,  to  institute  in  the  diocese 
a  permanent  Commission  for  collecting  and  authen- 
ticating any  facts  which  may  have  already  taken 
place  or  may  arise  hereafter  in  the  Grotto  ol 
Lourdes,  or  in  connection  with  it,  for  making  them 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  343 

known  to  us  and  apprizing  us  of  their  character,  and 
thus  furnishing  us  with  the  elements  which  are  in- 
dispensable to  enable  us  to  arrive  at  a  solution  of 
the  question. 

FOR  THESE  REASONS : 

Having  invoked  the  holy  name  of  God,  we  have 
commanded  and  do  command  as  follows : 

Article  i. — A  Commission  is  instituted  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Tarbes  with  the  object  of  ascertaining : — 

ist.  Whether  cures  have  been  effected  by  the  use 
of  the  water  of  the  Grotto  of  Lourdes,  whether  by 
drinking  it  or  in  lotions,  and  whether  these  cures 
can  be  accounted  for  naturally,  or  should  be  attrib- 
uted to  a  supernatural  cause. 

2d.  Whether  the  Visions  which  the  child,  Berna- 
dette  Soubirous,  claims  to  have  had  in  the  Grotto 
are  real,  and,  in  that  case,  whether  they  can  be  ac- 
counted for  naturally,  or  are  of  a  divine  and  super- 
natural character. 

3d.  Whether  the  object  which  appeared  demand- 
ed anything  from  the  child  or  manifested  any  inten- 
tions to  her?  Whether  the  latter  was  charged  with 
the  communication  of  them,  and  to  whom?  And 
what  was  the  precise  nature  of  the  demands,  or  in- 
tentions manifested  ? 

4th.  Whether  the  Fountain,  flowing  at  present  in 
the  Grotto,  was  in  existence  before  the  date  of  the 
Vision  which  Bernadette  Soubirous  claims  to  have 
lad. 

Article  2. — The  Commission  will  bring  to  our  no- 
tice only  such  facts  as  are  established  by  conclusive 
evidence ;  it  will  forward  to  us  circumstantial  re- 
ports on  such  facts,  accompanied  with  its  own  opin- 
'on  regarding  them. 


J44  OUIt  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

Article  3. — The  deans  of  the  diocese  will  be  the 
principal  correspondents  of  the  Commission :  they 
are  requested  to  make  known  to  it : 

ist.  The  facts  which  shall  have  taken  place  in 
their  respective  deaneries. 

2d.  The  persons  who  may  be  able»to  bear  testi- 
mony relative  to  the  existence  of  the  above  facts. 

3d.  Those  who,  from  their  scientific  knowledge, 
may  be  able  to  enlighten  the  Commission. 

4th.  The  medical  men  who  attended  the  sick  per- 
sons before  their  cure. 

Article  4. — After  previous  inquiries,  the  Commis- 
sion will  proceed  to  an  investigation.  The  evidence 
will  be  taken  on  oath.  Two  members,  at  least,  of 
the  Commission,  will  go  to  the  place  where  an  inves- 
tigation takes  place. 

Article  5. — We  earnestly  recommend  the  Commis- 
sion often  to  summon  to  its  sittings  men  versed  in 
the  sciences  of  medicine,  natural  philosophy,  chem- 
istry, geology,  etc.,  in  order  to  hear  them  discuss 
the  difficulties  which  may  be,  in  certain  points  of 
view,  in  their  line,  and  to  learn  their  opinion.  The 
Commission  ought  to  neglect  nothing,  to  avail  it- 
self of  every  possible  source  of  information,  and 
to  arrive  at  the  truth  of  whatever  nature  it  may 
be. 

Article  6. — The  Commission  will  be  composed  of 
nine  members  of  our  Cathedral-Chapter,  the  Supe- 
riors of  the  Grand  and  Little  Seminaries,  the  Supe- 
rior of  the  Missionaries  of  our  Diocese,  the  Cure  ol 
Lourdes,  and  of  the  Professors  of  Dogmatic  The- 
ology, Morality,  and  Natural  Philosophy  of  our 
Seminary.  The  Professor  of  Chemistry  of  our  Lit 
tie  Seminary  will  be  frequently  consulted. 


OUR  LADY  Of  LOVRDE8.  345 

Article  7. — M.  Nog-arc,  Canon-archpriest  is  named 
President  of  the  Commission.  Canons  Tabaries 
and  Soule  are  named  Vice-presidents,  The  Com- 
mission w:ll  name  a  secretary  and  two  vice-secreta- 
ries taken  out  of  its  number. 

Article  8. — The  Commission  will  commence  its 
labors  immediately,  and  meet  as  often  as  it  may 
judge  necessary. 

Given  at  Tarbes,  in  our  episcopal  palace,  under 
our  signature,  seal,  and  the  counter-signature  of  our 
Secretary,  28th  of  July,  1858. 

>J-  BERTRAND  SEVRE, 

Bishop  of  Tarbes. 

By  command, 

FOURCADE,  Canon-Secretary. 

Monseigneur  Laurence  had  scarcely  issued  this 
order,  when  a  letter  from  M.  Rouland,  Minister  of 
Public  Worship,  reached  the  Palace. 

To  understand  well  the  terms  in  which  this  letter 
was  couched,  we  will  premise : 

It  is  impossible  to  know  beyond  all  doubt  whether 
the  Police  or  the  Administration  had  instigated  the 
false  visionaries,  or  whether  they  were  the  innocent 
victims  of  universal  suspicion,  and  it  would  be  still 
more  difficult  to  establish  this  point  by  regular  doc- 
uments. In  such  cases,  the  proofs,  when  any  are  in 
existence,  are  always  destroyed  by  interested  hands. 
To  arrive  then  at  the  truth,  there  remains  only  the 
general  complexion  of  events,  and  the  unanimous 
feeling  of  a  contemporary  public — a  feeling  some- 
times certainly  very  just,  but  often  also  imbued  with 
passion  and  stained  with  error.  In  presence  of  such 
incomplete  elements,  of  this  shade  mingled 
15* 


346  OUR  LADY   OF  LOURDE8. 

light,  and  this  light  mingled  with  shade,  a  historian 
has  only  to  recount  authentic  facts,  to  express  his 
doubts,  uneasiness  and  scruples,  with  regard  to  the 
rest,  and  to  leave  the  reader  to  decide  the  question 
and  determine  in  his  own  mind  on  which  side  the 
greater  probability  rests. 

Whatever,  therefore,  was  the  reason,  or  the  un 
known  hand  which  had  instigated  two  or  three 
street-boys  to  play  the  part  of  Visionaries,  M.  Ja- 
comet,  M.  Massy,  and  their  friends,  displayed  the 
greatest  eagerness  in  exaggerating  these  childish 
ricks  and  turning  them  to  the  best  advantage 
They  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  invite  the 
attention  of  the  multitude  to  this  quarter,  and  to 
divert  it  from  the  really  grave  events,  such  as  the 
divine  ecstacies  of  Bernadette,  the  gushing  forth  of 
the  Spnng,  and  the  cures  of  those  that  were  sick, 
which  had  captivated  the  faith  of  the  people.  When 
the  battle  is  lost  on  one  point,  eminent  strategists 
endeavor,  by  some  well-contrived  feint,  to  lure  the 
enemy  towards  a  portion  of  the  field  full  of  ambus- 
cades, and  mines  ready  to  explode  as  soon  as  they 
reach  it.  This  is  what  they  term,  "  making  a  diver- 
sion." 

The  sudden  disappearance  of  the  false  visions  and 
false  Visionaries  before  the  aroused  attention  and 
far-seeiig  threats  of  the  Abbe  Peyramale,  blasted, 
from  the  very  first  day,  the  hopes  which  had  been 
conceived  by  the  profound  tacticians  of  the  free- 
thinking  party. 

The  good  sense  of  the  public  remained  firm  on 
the  true  ground  of  the  question,  and  did  not  allow 
itself  to  be  deceived.  This  was  not  the  case  with 
the  high-reasoning  powers  of  the  Minister,  M.  Rou- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB.  347 

land.     Let  us  see  how  it  happened  that  his  strong 
mind  was  led  astray. 

Attempting  one  more  desperate  effort  against  the 
triumphant  and  irresistible  force  of  circumstances, 
and  employing  the  last  resources  of  their  genius  to 
produce  at  all  cost  out  of  these  paltry  incidents  a 
last  chance  of  resisting  defeat  and  of  resuming  the 
offensive,  the  Prefect  and  Jacomet  had  forwarded 
to  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship,  the  most  hyper- 
bolical and  fantastic  picture  of  these  childish  scenes. 
Now,  owing  to  an  illusion  scarcely  conceivable  in  a 
statesman  who  had  had  experience  of  official  life 
in  these,  our  days,  M.  Rouland  placed  the  blindest 
confidence  in  official  reports.  Faith  is  never  lost, 
whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  but  it  is  of- 
ten misplaced.  Rouland,  the  philosopher,  had  no 
faith  in  our  Lady  of  Lourdes,  proving  her  claims  by 
cures  and  miracles,  but  he  had  faith  in  the  Prefect 
and  Jacomet.  These  two  gentlemen  then  made  him 
believe,  that,  under  the  shade  of  the  Rocks  of  Mas- 
sabielle,  children  had  the  audacity  to  play  the  part 
of  priests,  and  that  the  people,  represented  by  crea- 
tures of  impure  life,  crowned  them  with  laurels,  or 
with  flowers,  etc.,  etc.  They  did  not  disguise  to 
him  the  utter  impotency  of  violent  measures 
against  the  general  agitation  of  the  public  mind. 
According  to  them,  material  force  was  vanquished 
and  the  civil  authority  at  bay.  The  religious  au- 
thority alone  could  save  the  situation  by  energetic 
action  against  the  popular  belief.  Driven  to  des- 
peration and  knowing  little  of  what  became  the 
dignity  of  a  Christian  Bishop,  they  dared  to  ima. 
gine,  that  a  pressure  from  the  higher  authorities  ju- 
diciously  brought  to  bear  on  Monseigneur  Lau- 


348  OUR  LADT  OF  LOITWES. 

rence,  might  determine  him  to  condemn  what 
passing,  and  act  according  to  their  own  views.  For 
this  reason  they  suggested  to  the  Minister  a  per- 
sonal appeal  to  the  Bishop,  as  the  best  means  of  ex- 
trication from  the  present  difficulties. 

This  was  to  urge  his  Excellency  in  the  direction 
towards  which  he  naturally  inclined.  M.  Rouland 
was  well-known  to  have  a  tendency  to  mix  himself 
up  with  religious  questions,  and  he  experienced 
much  pleasure  in  drawing  up  programmes  for  the 
guidance  of  the  successors  of  the  Apostles. 

The  Minister,  notwithstanding  his  having  been 
formerly  Procureur-General,  never  once  thought  of 
asking  himself  the  question  why  —  if  the  reports  he 
had  received  were  correct  —  the  Parquet  had  not 
prosecuted  before  the  tribunals  the  authors  of  the 
profanations  brought  to  his  notice.  This  strange 
inaction  of  the  Magistracy  with  regard  to  these 
asserted  disorders  never  once  excited  his  sus- 
picions. 

Accepting  then  with  a  candor  more  than  minis- 
terial the  romances  of  the  Police  and  the  Prefect  and 
fancying  that  he  saw  his  way  clearly  in  the  busi- 
ness ;  deeming  himself  a  theologian  of  the  first 
water  and  something  more  than  an  Archbishop, 
seeing  that  he  was  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship 
M.  Rouland,  from  the  interior  of  his  cabinet,  formed 
a  peremptory  judgment  on  the  actual  state  of  things, 
and  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Tarbes  a  letter,  which 
was  in  all  respects  a  worthy  counterpart  of  the  one 
he  addressed  at  the  commencement  of  the  affair  to 
the  Prefect  and  which  we  have  already  quoted.  It 
was  from  beginning  to  end  impregnated  with  the 
same  officral  piety.  On  re-perusing  it  to-day,  by 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDK8. 


349 


the  light  of  historical  truth,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid 
smiling  sadly  at  the  manner — sometimes  so  mon- 
strously barefaced —  in  which  those  who  govern  are 
at  times  deceived  —  we  might  almost  say  impu- 
dently mocked  and  held  up  to  derision  —  by  the 
inferior  agents  of  their  administration.  We  cannot 
in  fact  regard  without  a  melancholy  irony  of  mind 
the  following  letter  written  by  the  very  Minister 
who  it  no  very  distant  period  of  time  was  to  affix 
his  signature  to  a  paper  authorizing  the  erection  of 
a  spacious  church  on  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  in 
eternal  memory  of  the  Apparitions  of  the  Most 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary. 

MONSEIGNEUR,  —  The  latest  intelligence  I  have 
received  touching  the  affair  of  Lourdes  appears  to 
me  to  be  of  a  nature  calculated  to  cause  deep  sor- 
row to  all  sincerely  religious  men.  These  benedic- 
tions of  chaplets  by  mere  children,  these  mani- 
festations in  which  may  be  remarked  women  of 
doubtful  morality,  these  crowns  placed  on  the 
heads  of  visionaries,  these  grotesque  ceremonies, 
mere  parodies  of  religious  ones,  could  not  fail 
of  giving  free  scope  to  the  attacks  of  protestant 
and  other  journals,  if  the  central  authority  did  not 
interfere  to  moderate  the  ardor  of  their  discussions 
on  religious  subjects.  These  scandalous  scenes  do 
not  throw  less  discredit  on  Religion  in  the  eyes  of 
the  population,  and  I  think  it  my  duty,  Monseig. 
neur,  to  call  anew  your  most  serious  attention  to- 
wards these  facts 

These  much  to  be  regretted  manifestations  seem 
to  me  also  to  be  of  a  nature  to  induce  the  Clergy  to 
oreak  through  the  reserve  they  have  hitherto  roam- 


35O  OI7B   LADY  OP  LOURDE8. 

tained.  I  can  but  make  a  pressing  appeal  on  thu 
subject  to  all  your  prudence  and  firmness,  and  ask 
you  whether  you  do  not  think  it  advisable  to  re- 
prove in  the  most  public  manner  profanations  of 
the  kind. 

Accept,  etc., 

ROULAND, 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction  and  Public  Worship. 

IX. 

THIS  missive  reached  Monseigneur  Laurence 
precisely  at  the  moment  he  had  issued  the  Order 
with  which  the  reader  is  acquainted,  and  had  con- 
stituted a  Commission  of  Inquiry  regarding  the  ex- 
traordinary events  which  the  all-powerful  hand  of 
God  had  brought  to  pass. 

Although  the  Bishop  could  not  but  be  extremely 
astonished  and  indignant  at  the  extravagant  stories 
which  the  Minister  gave  out  as  if  they  were  truth 
itself,  he  replied  in  a  tone  of  moderation  to  his  Ex- 
cellency's letter.  Without  giving  his  own  opinion 
on  the  matter  in  debate  —  as  he  did  not  wish  from 
prudential  motives  to  bring  on  a  premature  decision 
—  he  re-established  the  exact  nature  of  the  facts 
which  had  been  so  disgracefully  travestied.  He 
explained  with  equal  clearness  and  frankness  the 
line  of  conduct  which  he  had  followed  himself  and 
prescribed  to  his  Clergy,  until  the  increasing  im- 
portance of  the  events  around  him  had  obliged  him 
to  interfere  and  to  appoint  a  Commission  of  Inquiry. 
To  the  Minister,  who,  without  knowing  any  thing 
or  examining  any  thing,  urged  him  to  condemn,  he 
replied  that  he  was  engaged  in  investigation. 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDES.  351 

MONSIEUR  LE  MINISTRE,  —  I  read  your  despatch 
with  great  astonishment.  I  am  also  informed  of 
what  is  passing  at  Lourdes,  and,  as  Bishop,  deeply 
interested  in  reprobating  whatever  is  calculated  to 
cause  sorrow  to  Religion  and  the  faithful.  I  am, 
therefore,  enabled  to  inform  you  that  the  scenes 
you  mention  in  your  letter  have  never  existed  such 
as  they  have  been  described  to  you,  and  that  if 
some  things  to  be  regretted  have  occurred  they 
were  of  a  very  transient  nature  and  have  left  no 
traces  behind  them. 

The  occurrences  to  which  your  Excellency  al- 
ludes must  have  taken  place  since  the  closing  of  the 
Grotto  and  the  first  week  in  July.  Two  or  three 
children  of  Lourdes  took  it  into  their  heads  to  play 
the  part  of  Visionaries  and  perform  sundry  antics 
in  the  streets.  The  Grotto,  as  1  observed,  being 
then  closed,  they  found  means  of  entering  it  and  of 
offering  their  services  to  visitors,  who  had  been 
stopped  at  the  barriers,  to  bless  their  chaplets  in 
the  interior  of  the  Grotto  and  to  receive  their  offer- 
ings, for  the  purpose  of  appropriating  them  to 
themselves.  One  of  them,  who  made  himself  most 
remarkable  by  his  eccentricities — sometimes  highly 
improper — was  attached  to  the  parish  church  at 
Lourdes,  as  chorister.  The  Curd  gave  him  a  severe 
reprimand,  expelled  him  from  the  catechism  class 
and  excluded  him  from  the  service  of  the  Church. 
This  disorder  was  only  transient.  The  public  saw 
nothing  in  it  beyond  the  frolics  of  certain  children, 
which  a  few  threats  soon  put  an  end  to.  Such  arc 
the  facts  which  some  too  zealous  persons  have  magni 
fied  in  their  reports  into  permanent  scenes. 

I  should  be  glad,  Monsieur,  for  you  to  obtain  in- 


352  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

formation  as  to  what  is  passing  at  Lourdes  from 
persons  of  birth  and  education  who  have  stopped  in 
that  town  in  order  to  see  the  places  for  themselves, 
to  converse  with  the  inhabitants  and  with  tne  child 
who  has  seen  the  Vision,  such  as  the  Bishops  ot 
MontpeL:er  and  Soissons,  the  Archbishop  of  Audi, 
M.  V£ne,  Inspector  of  the  Mineral  Waters,  Madame 
Bruat,  wife  of  the  Admiral,  M.  Louis  Veuillot,  etc., 
etc. 

The  Clergy  have  up  to  the  present  time  kept 
altogether  aloof,  on  the  occasion  of  the  affairs  at  the 
Grotto.  The  Clergy  of  the  town  have  displayed 
admirable  prudence,  never  going  to  the  Grotto,  in 
order  to  avoid  giving  credit  to  the  Pilgrimage,  but 
on  the  contrary  favoring  the  measures  taken  by  the 
authorities.  And  yet  they  have  been  reported  to 
you  as  favoring  Superstition.  I  do  not  accuse  the 
first  magistrate  of  the  Department  as  his  intentions 
have  always  been  upright ;  but  in  this  affair  he  has 
placed  too  much  confidence  in  his  subordinates. 

In  my  letter  in  answer  to  the  Prefect,  bearing 
date  April  i  ith,  a  letter  which  has  been  submitted  to 
you,  I  offered  that  magistrate  my  sincere  co-opera- 
tion to  bring  this  affair  to  a  happy  termination.  But 
it  was  impossible  for  me  to  accede  to  his  wishes  by 
stigmatizing,  from  the  Christian  pulpit,  without 
enquiry  or  investigation,  those  who  were  in  the 
habit  of  going  to  pray  at  the  Grotto,  nor  could  I 
prohibit  them  from  going  there,  more  especially  as 
no  disorder  of  any  kind  was  reported,  though  on  cer- 
tain days  the  visitors  might  have  been  counted  by 
thousands.  Besides  the  fact  that  the  Church  always 
assigns  specific  reasons  for  her  prohibitions,  and  the 
information  I  had  received  on  the  subject  was  insufc 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE3.  353 

ficient,  I  was  also  morally  certain,  that  my  words 
would  not  have  been  listened  to  at  a  moment  when 
the  minds  of  all  were  in  a  state  of  the  highest  ex- 
citement. 

The  Prefect,  being  at  the  Council  of  Revision  at 
Lourdes,  on  the  4th  of  May,  had  the  religious  ob- 
jects which  were  in  the  Grotto  removefl  by  the 
Commissary  of  Police  at  Lourdes,  and,  in  a  speech 
which  he  addressed  to  the  Mayors  of  the  canton, 
he  said  that  he  had  taken  that  measure  with  the 
consent  and  approval  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese — 
an  assertion  which  was  repeated  some  days  later 
by  the  organ  of  the  Prefecture.  I  was  informed 
of  this  step  by  the  journals,  and  by  the  Curd  of 
Lourdes.  I  lost  no  time  in  writing  to  the  latter 
desiring  that  the  orders  of  the  Prefect  might  be 
respected.  I  never  complained  either  at  the  time 
or  since  that  I  appeared  to  have  shared  in  a  mea 
sure  of  which  I  was  entirely  ignorant.  Although 
numerous  letters  have  reached  me  begging  me  to 
enter  my  protest,  I  have  refrained  from  doing  so, 
not  wishing  to  add  to  the  embarrassments  of  the 
situation. 

The  objects  of  piety  being  removed  from  the 
Grotto,  we  might  hope  that  the  number  of  visits  to 
the  spot  would  gradually  decrease  and  that  this 
Pilgrimage,  which  had  so  unexpectedly  sprung  into 
existence,  would  be  brought  to  a  close.  The  public 
claimed,  right  or  wrong,  that  the  water  which 
flows  in  the  Grotto  effected  marvelous  cures ;  the 
crowds  became  more  numerous  and  people  flocked 
to  the  spot  from  the  neighboring  departments. 

On  the  eighth  of  June,  the  Mayor  of  Lourdes 
issued  an  Order,  forbidding  all  access  *o  the  Grotto 


354  OUIt  LADY   OF  LOURDE8. 

This  Order  was  based  on  the  interests  of  Religion 
and  the  public  health.  Although  Religion  had  thus 
been  brought  prominently  forward,  and  the  Bishop 
had  not  been  consulted,  the  latter  did  not  make  any 
formal  expostulation ;  he  kept  silence  for  the  rea- 
sons explained  above. 

You  see,  Monsieur  le  Ministre,  from  these  few 
details  that  the  reserve  of  the  Clergy  in  this  affair 
has  not  been  pushed  to  extremes.  In  my  opinion 
it  has  only  been  prudent.  When  I  could,  I  co- 
operated with  the  measures  taken  by  the  civil  au- 
thorities, and  if  they  have  not  always  been  success- 
ful, it  is  not  the  Bishop  who  must  incur  the  blame. 

Now,  yielding  to  the  expostulations  addressed  to 
me  from  all  quarters,  I  thought  the  time  had  ar- 
rived for  me  to  occupy  myself  usefully  with  this 
affair.  I  he  /e  named  a  Commission  for  the  purpose 
of  seeking  for  and  collecting  the  elements  necessary 
to  form  a  decision  —  as  far  as  I  am  concerned  —  on 
a  question  which  keeps  the  country  in  agitation, 
and  which,  to  judge  from  the  information  which 
reaches  me,  seems  to  interest  the  whole  of  France. 
I  am  confident  that  the  Faithful  will  receive  my 
decision  with  submission,  as  they  know  well  that  I 
shall  have  neglected  no  means  of  arriving  at  truth. 
This  Commission  has  been  in  operation  fo  some 
days.  I  am  determined  to  give  every  publicity  to 
my  Order  by  means  of  the  Press,  in  the  hope  that 
it  may  contribute  to  calm  the  public  mind  whila 
waiting  for  the  promulgation  of  the  decision.  1 
shall  do  myself  the  honor  of  forwarding  your  Excel 
lency  a  copy  of  it  within  a  few  days. 
I  am,  etc.,  etc., 

B.  S.,  BISHCP  OF  T/  <BES 


OUR  LADY  OP  L3URDE8.  355 

Such  was  the  letter  of  Monseigneur  Laurence  to 
M.  Rouland.  It  was  clear,  it  was  conclusive,  and 
it  was  unanswerable.  The  Minister  of  Public  Wor- 
ship did  not  reply  to  it.  He  resumed  his  former 
silence,  in  which  he  showed  his  wisdom.  Perhaps 
he  would  have  displayed  still  greater  wisdom  if  he 
had  never  broken  it. 

X. 

AT  the  time  when  Monseigneur  had  just  com- 
manded, in  the  name  of  Religion,  an  investigation 
relative  to  those  extraordinary  facts  which  the  civil 
authorities  had  condemned,  persecuted,  and  wished 
to  suppress  a  priori,  without  deigning  even  to  study 
or  discuss  them ;  on  the  very  same  day,  when  the 
Prelate's  letter  to  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship 
was  despatched,  M.  Filhol,  the  illustrious  Professor 
of  Chemistry  in  the  Faculty  of  Toulouse,  returned 
the  decisive  verdict  of  Science  on  the  water  of  the 
Grotto  at  Lourdes.  The  conscientious  and  most 
complete  labor  of  the  great  chemist  annihilated  the 
official  analysis  of  M.  Latour  de  Trie,  that  savant 
of  the  Prefecture,  who  had  been  so  much  rned  up 
by  the  Prefect. 

The  undersigned,  Professor  of  Chemistry  to 
the  Faculty  of  Science  at  Toulouse,  Professor  of 
Pharmacy  and  Toxicology  at  the  School  of  Medi- 
cine in  the  same  town,  Chevalier  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor,  certifies  to  having  analyzed  a  certain 
water  coming  from  a  Spring,  which  has  gushed  forth 
in  the  environs  of  Lourdes.  .  .  . 

The  result  of  this  analysis  it,  that  the  water  of 


356  OUR  LAD7   OF  LOURDES. 

the  Grotto  at  Lourdes  may  be  considered  from  its 
component  parts  to  be  a  water  fit  for  drinking 
purpose,  analogous  to  the  majority  of  those  which 
are  met  with  on  mountains  whose  soil  is  rich  in 
lime-stone. 

The  extraordinary  effects  which  are  positively  it- 
tributed  to  the  use  of  this  water,  cannot — at  least  in 
the  present  state  of  science — be  explained  by  the  nature 
of  the  salts,  whose  existence  is  revealed  by  this  analysis 

This  water  does  not  contain  any  active  substance  ca~ 
pable  of  endowing  it  with  marked  therapeutic  virtues. 
It  may  be  drunk  without  inconvenience. 

(Signed)  FILHOL. 

TOULOUSE,  August  7th,  1858. 

Thus  when  confronted  with  the  examination  ot 
the  celebrated  chemist,  all  the  pseudo- scientific 
scaffolding  on  which  the  Free-thinkers,  Savants  and 
the  Prefect  had  with  so  much  pains  constructed 
their  theory  of  extraordinary  cures,  fell  to  the 
ground.  According  to  the  verdict  returned  by 
true  science,  the  water  of  the  Grotto  was  not  min- 
eral, nor  did  it  possess  any  curative  virtues.  And 
yet  it  effected  cures.  There  remained  nothing  for 
those,  who  had  audaciously  put  prominently  for- 
ward false  explanations,  except  the  confusion  at- 
tending their  attempt  and  the  impossibility  from 
that  time  forth  of  withdrawing  the  public  acknowl 
edgment  they  had  made  of  the  cures  accomplished 
Falsenood  and  err  >r  were  taken  in  their  own  nets. 


EIGHTH  BOOK 
I. 

r  1  THE  mandate  of  the  Bishop  instituting  a  Com- 
_1_  mission  of  Inquiry,  coupled  with  the  analysis 
furnished  by  M.  Filhol,  took  away  from  Baron 
Massy,  M.  Rouland  and  M.  Jacomet,  all  pretext  for 
persevering  in  violent  measures  as  well  as  for  main- 
taining round  the  Grotto  rigorous  prohibitions, 
barriers  and  sentinels. 

In  justification  of  the  prohibition  of  trespass  on 
the  communal  grounds  they  had  said,  "  Consider- 
ing that  it  is  important,  in  the  interests  of  Religion, 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  deplorable  scenes  at  the  Grotto 
of  Massabielle."  Now,  the  Bishop  by  declaring 
the  state  of  things  to  be  sufficiently  grave  to  war- 
rant his  interference,  and  by  taking  in  hand  the 
investigation  of  whatever  regarded  the  "interests 
of  Religion,"  disarmed  the  civil  power  of  this  motive, 
which  it  had  so  loftily  invoked. 

In  justification  of  the  prohibition  of  going  to 
drink  water  at  the  Spring  which  had  gushed  forth 
from  beneath  the  hands  of  Bernadette  when  in  a 
state  of  ecstacy,  they  had  said,  "  Considering  that  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  Mayor  to  watch  over  the  public 
health ;  considering  that  there  are  serious  reasons 

(117) 


358  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

for  bettering  that  this  water  contains  mineral  com 
pounds,  and  that  it  is  prudent — before  permitting 
its  use — to  wait  until  a  scientific  analysis  shall 
make  known  the  manner  in  which  it  may  be  applied 
by  the  science  of  medicine.  .  .  ."  Now  by  declar- 
ing that  the  water  did  not  contain  any  mineral  com* 
pound,  and  by  establishing  that  it  might  be  drunk 
with  impunity,  M.  Filhol  demolished,  in  the  name 
of  Science  and  Medicine,  this  pretended  reason, 
"  the  public  health." 

If  then  the  civil  power  had  alleged  these  motives 
as  straightforward  reasons,  and  not  as  specious  pre- 
texts ;  if  it  had  acted  "  in  the  interests  of  Religion 
and  of  the  public  health,"  and  not  under  the  influ- 
ence of  evil  passions  and  intolerance ;  if,  in  a  word, 
it  had  been  sincere,  and  not  actuated  by  hypocrisy, 
it  would,  in  the  present  stage  of  events,  have  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  cancel  its  prohibitions  and 
remove  its  barriers ;  it  would  have  had  nothing 
to  do  but  to  leave  the  people  absolutely  free 
to  drink  at  the  Fountain,  whose  perfect  harm- 
lessness  had  been  proclaimed  by  Science ;  it  would 
have  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  acknowledge  their 
right  to  go  and  kneel  at  the  foot  of  those  mysteri- 
ous Rocks,  where  from  henceforth  the  Church  kept 
watch. 

It  did  nothing  of  the  kind. 

To  this  solution  of  the  question,  so  clea~.y  point 
ed  out  by  logical  reasoning  and  conscience,  there 
was  one  potent  obstacle — Pride.  Pride  bore  the 
sway  from  the  bottom  to  the  top  of  the  ladder,  from 
Jacomet  up  to  Rouland,  including,  of  course,  the 
Baron,  and  all  their  philosophizing  Sect.  It  seemed 
hard  to  them  to  recoil  and  surrender  their  arms. 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOUEDE8.  359 

Pride  never  submits.  It  would  rather  boldly  in- 
trench itself  in  the  illogical  than  bow  to  the  author- 
ity of  Reason.  Furious,  beside  itself,  driven  to  the 
most  absurd  shifts,  it  raises  itself  to  its  full  height 
against  evidence.  It  says,  "  Non  scrviam"  like  the 
Satan  of  holy  writ.  It  resists,  refuses  to  give  way 
and  becomes  inflexible — until  all  at  once  the  crash 
comes  and  it  is  contemptuously  shivered  into 
atoms. 


II 


To  the  official  and  officious  enemies  of  Supersti- 
tion, there  remained  one  last  weapon  to  be  employ- 
ed, one  final  struggle  to  be  attempted.  If  the  bat- 
tle seemed  to  be  definitely  lost  in  the  Pyrenees, 
they  might  possibly  reconquer  their  position  at 
Paris,  and  make  themselves  masters  of  public  opin- 
ion in  France  and  in  Europe,  before  the  cosmopo- 
lite band  of  tourists  and  bathers,  on  their  return  to 
their  own  firesides,  should  have  spread  every  where 
their  vexatious  impressions  and  severe  judgments. 
A  formidable  campaign  was  organized  by  the  irre- 
ligious press  of  Paris,  the  province  and  foreign 
countries,  against  the  events  at  Lourdes  and  the 
Bishop's  pastoral  letter. 

While  the  generals  of  Free-thought  were  engaged 
in  the  decisive  combat  on  this  vast  battle-field,  the 
Prefect  of  the  Hautes-Pyrenees,  like  Kellermann  at 
Valmy,  received  instructions  to  maintain  his  line  of 
operations — come  what  might — not  to  give  way  an 
inch  and  not  to  capitulate,  at  any  price,  in  face  of 
the  enemy.  They  well  knew  Baron  Massy's  intre- 
pidity, and  were  aware  that  neither  arguments,  nor 


360  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDS8. 

reason,  nor  moral  considerations,  nor  the  spectacle 
of  the  most  astounding  Miracles  would  triumph 
over  his  invincible  firmness.  He  would  hold  his 
ground  even  though  it  were  crumbling  beneath  his 
feet.  Even  the  absurdity  of  their  position  would 
be  ably  defended  by  him. 

The  Journal  des  Debats,  the  Siecle,  the  Press*,  the 
Independance  Beige,  and  several  foreign  journals 
struck  the  blow  simultaneously,  and  rushed  to  the 
attack  witn  violence.  The  most  insignificant  jour- 
nals of  the  most  insignificant  countries,  deemed  it 
an  honor  to  figure  in  this  muster  of  shields  against 
the  Supernatural.  We  find,  in  fact,  among  those 
which  took  part  in  the  struggle,  even  a  paltry  lit- 
tle newspaper  of  Amsterdam,  the  Amsterdaamscke 
Courant. 

Some,  as  the  Presse  for  instance,  by  the  pen  of 
M.  Gueroult.  or  the  Siecle  by  that  of  M.  M.  Benard 
and  Jourdan,  attacked  Miracles  in  their  very  prin- 
ciple, declaring  that  they  had  had  their  day,  that 
they  did  not  enter  into  any  discussion  with  them, 
and  that  in  a  question  already  judged  a  priori  by 
the  great  lights  of  philosophy,  to  examine  was  in- 
consistent with  the  dignity  of  Free  Examination. 
"Miracles,"  observed  M.  Gueroult,  'v  belong  to  a 
series  of  civilization  which  is  fast  disappearing.  If 
God  does  not  change,  the  idea  which  mankind  forms 
of  Him  changes  from  epoch  to  epoch  in  propor- 
tion to  the  degree  of  light  and  morality  they  have 
attained.  Igornant  people,  who  have  no  suspicion 
of  the  important  harmony  of  the  laws  of  the  uni- 
verse, see  every  where  those  laws  reversed.  From 
day  to  day  God  appears  to  them,  talks  to  them, 
converses  with  them  and  sends  angels  to  them 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDRS.  361 

In  proportion  as  Societies  are  enlightened,  men 
become  educated,  and  the  sciences  of  observation 
come  to  counterbalance  the  flights  of  the  imagina- 
tion, all  this  mythology  vanishes.  Man  is  not  less 
religious  on  this  account ;  he  is  in  reality  more  so, 
but  it  is  after  another  fashion.  He  sees  no  longer 
face  to  face  gods  or  goddesses,  angels  or  demons. 
He  strives  to  decipher  the  divine  will  written  in  the 
laws  of  the  world.  Miracles,  which  at  certain 
epochs,  might  be  the  conditions  of  faith  and  serve 
as  exterior  coverings  of  deep  truths,  have  become 
in  our  daj^s  the  bugbears  of  all  serious  convic- 
tions." M.  Gueroult  declared  that  if  he  were  told 
of  a  most  striking  supernatural  fact  as  being  in  the 
process  of  accomplishment  in  his  immediate  neigh- 
borhood, on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  "  he  would 
not  go  out  of  his  way  to  see  it.  If  such  adven- 
tures can  take  their  place  for  an  instant  in  the  super- 
stitious baggage  of  the  ignorant  masses,  they  do 
but  provoke  in  men  of  enlightenment  —  in  those, 
whose  opinion,  in  process  of  time,  becomes  that  of 
the  world — the  repulsion  of  distrust  and  the  smile 
of  disdain."  Other  journals  devoted  themselves 
gallantly  to  the  disfigurement  of  facts.  At  the 
same  time  that  it  attacked  the  very  principle  of 
miracles,  the  Siecle,  in  spite  of  the  evidence  adduced, 
and  the  vast  body  of  water  which  the  Spring  pro- 
duced daily,  still  stuck,  in  its  capacity  of  a  very  ad- 
vanced journal,  to  the  hackneyed  theory  of  halluci- 
nation and  oozing.  "  It  seems  to  us  a  matter 
of  difficulty,"  observed  M.  Benard,  with  alt  the 
pomp  of  learning,  "  how  they  managed  to  manufac 
ture  a  miracle  out  of  the  hallucination,  true  or 
false,  of  a  miserable  little  girl  of  fourteen  yean 
16 


362  OUR  LAD 7   OF  LOURL.E& 

of  age,  and  the  oozing  of  some  pure  water  in  a 
Grotto." 

As  to  the  miraculous  cures  they  disposed  of 
them  by  a  single  word.  "  The  hydropathists  also 
pretend  to  effect  the  most  brilliant  cures  with  pure 
water,  but  they  have  not  yet  proclaimed  from  the 
house-tops  that  they  work  Miracles." 

But  the  most  curious  specimen  of  the  good  faith 
of  the  Free-thinkers,  or  of  their  sagacious  investi- 
gation of  this  matter,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Dutch 
journal  we  named  above,  the  grave  narration  of 
which  was  re-produced  in  the  French  papers.  This 
friend  of  enlightenment  instructed  the  world  and  re- 
counted the  events  which  had  occurred  as  follows : 

"A  new  manifestation,  destined  to  rouse  and 
nourish  the  ardor  of  the  faithful  for  the  worship  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  was  imminent.  The  delibera- 
tions of  the  Bishops  on  this  point  resulted  in  the 
preparation  of  the  famous  Miracle  of  Lourdes. 
Every  one  knows  that  the  Bishop  of  Tarbes  has 
appointed  a  Commission  charged  with  investigating 
the  fact.  The  so-called  conclusions  of  the  Report 
of  the  Commission,  which  is  composed  of  ecclesias- 
tics and  individuals  paid  by  the  Clergy,  were  pre- 
pared long  before  the  first  meeting.  The  pretended 
shepherd-girl  Bernadette  is  not  an  innocent  shepherd- 
girl,  but  a  young  girl  belonging  to  the  city,  of  highly 
cultivated  mind  and  crafty  intellect,  wJio  has  passed 
several  montlis  in  a  nunnery  where  she  has  been  duly 
tutored  in  the  part  she  was  to  play.  There,  before  a 
small  number  of  confederates,  trial-representation* 
were  given  long  before  she  was  brought  on  the  public 
scene.  As  we  see,  nothing  was  wanting  to  this 
comedy,  not  even  rehearsals.  If  at  any  time  there 


happens  to  be  a  dearth  of  dramatists  at  Paris,  per- 
sons may  be  found  among  the  superior  Clergy  who 
will  fill  up  the  gap  in  the  most  superior  style.  Be- 
sides, the  liberal  press  has  turned  the  whole  affair 
into  ridicule  from  beginning  to  end,  and  it  is  very 
possible  that  the  Clergy,  for  their  own  interest,  will 
recognize  the  necessity  of  being  prudent."  The  in- 
formation obtained  by  the  journalists  could  only  be 
compared  with  that  which  had  captivated  the  sim- 
ple faith  of  his  Excellency,  M.  Rouland.  The  public 
as  we  see,  were  not  treated  more  respectfully  than 
a  Minister.  In  this  manner  is  not  unfrequently 
formed  the  opinion  of  those  who  are  termed  by  M. 
Gueroult,  in  his  article,  "  enlightened  men,"  doubt- 
less in  allusion  to  the  torrent  of  light  which  the 
press  throws  upon  them. 

III. 

OUTSIDE  the  events  themselves  and  the  Miracle, 
the  mandate  of  the  Bishop  of  Tarbes  was  the  centei 
of  attack.  Philosophy,  in  virtue  of  the  infallibility 
of  its  dogmas,  was  indignant  at  the  idea  of  investi- 
gation, scientific  study  and  experiments.  "  When 
an  individual,  laboring  under  hallucination,  sends  a 
paper  on  perpetual  motion  or  squaring  the  circle  to 
the  Academy  of  Sciences,  the  Academy  passes  to 
the  order  of  the  day  without  losing  its  time  in 
examining  lucubrations  of  the  kind.  There  is  no 
place  for  investigation  when  Miracles  are  in  ques- 
tion ;  in  the  name  of  reason,  Philosophy  passes  to  the 
order  of  the  day.  To  examine  supernatural  facts, 
would  be  to  admit  their  possibility  and  by  so  doing 
repudiate  our  own  principles.  In  such  matters 


364  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 

proofs  and  evidence  go  for  nothing.  We  do  not 
enter  into  discussions  on  what  is  impossible,  we 
shrug  our  shoulders  and  there  is  nothing  to  be 
said."  Such  was  the  theme  on  which  turned — in 
a  thousand  different  forms — the  ardent  and  exaspe- 
rated polemical  discussion  of  the  irreligious  portion 
of  the  press.  In  vain  did  it  obstinately  persist  in 
denials  and  misrepresentations ;  it  dreaded  any  in- 
vestigation. False  theories  delight  in  resting  on  the 
fleeting  waves  and  indistinct  mists  of  pure  specula- 
tion. By  I  know  not  what  instinct  of  self-preserva- 
tion, they  shrink  from  broad  day-light  and  dare  not 
descend  with  firm  step  on  the  broad  plain  of  experi- 
mental method.  They  have  a  foreboding  that  defeat 
awaits  them  there. 

In  this  desperate  struggle  againt  the  evidence  of 
facts  and  the  rights  of  reason,  the  skin-deep  liberal- 
ism of  the  Journal  des  Debats  peeled  off  and  fell,  like 
theatrical  varnish,  leaving  visible,  with  scarcely  any 
attempt  at  concealment,  the  ground-work  of  furious 
intolerance  which  is  concealed  beneath  the  stately 
phrases  of  philosophy.  The  Journal  des  Debats, 
in  an  article  from  the  pen  of  M.  Prevost-Paradol,  dis- 
played its  alarm  beforehand  at  the  immense  range 
which  the  Report  of  the  Commission  and  the  ver- 
dict of  the  Bishop  would  infallibly  have,  and  he 
made  that  his  starting-point  to  appeal  to  the  secular 
arm  and  to  conjure  Caesar  to  put  a  stop  to  the  whole 
matter.  "  It  is  evident,"  said  he,  "  that  a  striking 
manifestation  of  the  divinity  in  favor  of  a  certain 
form  of  worship  is  a  high  testimony  to  its  peculiar 
truth,  its  superiority  to  all  the  rest,  and  to  its  incon- 
testible  right  to  the  government  of  souls.  It  is 
therefore  an  event  of  a  nature  calculated  to  bring  in 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  365 

its  tram  numerous  adhesions,  whethei  as  regards 
dissenters  or  unbelievers  ;  in  a  word,  it  is  an  instru- 
ment of  proselytism."  He  put  in  a  strong  light  the 
political  importance  of  the  result  of  the  inquiry. 
"  If  this  decision  is  favorable  to  the  Miracle,  it 
tends  to  a  certain  point,  to  break  in  that  part  of 
France  the  balance  between  the  religious  and  the 
civil  power.  The  Ministers  of  a  form  of  worship  in 
favor  of  which  such  prodigies  are  authenticated 
are  vastly  different  personages  from  those  antici- 
pated, organized  and  placed  under  certain  regula- 
tions by  the  terms  of  the  Concordat.  They  have 
an  influence  of  quite  another  nature  over  the  popu- 
lation, and  in  case  of  any  collection  they  dispose 
of  it  with  an  authority  totally  different  from  that  of 
the  Council  of  State  and  of  the  Prefect. 

"  We  have  sufficiently  proved,"  continued  the 
writer  in  the  Debats,  "  the  importance  which,  in 
several  points  of  view,  the  decision  of  the  Episco- 
pal Commission  of  Tarbes  must  necessarily  have. 
Now,  there  is  here  a  truth  which  we  should  bear  in 
mind,  and  of  which  M.  de  Morny  has  just  re- 
minded the  Council-General  of  Puy  de  Dome  with 
justifiable  urgency.  It  is  that  nothing  of  impor- 
tance can  be  legally  done  in  France  without  the 
previous  authorization  of  the  Administration.  If  a 
stone  cannot  be  moved,  as  M.  de  Morny  well  re- 
marked, or  a  well  dug  without  the  consent  of  the 
Administration,  how  much  more  necessary  must  its 
consent  be  in  order  to  establish  a  Miracle  or  found  a 
Pilgrimage.  Any  one  who  is  conversant  with  reli- 
gious matters,  and  particularly  with  the  opening  of 
temples,  or  of  schools  of  dissenting  communes, 
Knows  perfectly  well  that  the  administrative  au 


366  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

thority  has  not  one  plea,  but  ten ;  not  ore  article  of 
the  law,  but  twenty  or  thirty  which  confer  on  it 
supreme  power  in  such  matters.  The  meeting  of 
the  Commission  of  the  Diocese  of  Tarbes  may  be 
prevented  or  dissolved  in  a  hundred  ways  by  the 
Concordat,  by  the  penal  Code,  by  the  law  of  1824, 
by  the  decree  of  February  1352,  by  the  central 
authority,  by  the  municipal  authority,  by  all  the 
authorities  possible.  Further  than  this,  the  decision 
of  this  Commission  when  promulgated  may  be  an- 
nulled in  reality  by  the  legal  opposition  of  the  ad- 
ministrative authority  to  the  erection  of  a  chapel  or 
to  the  licensed  use  of  the  marvelous  water.  The 
same  authority  has  the  power  of  prohibiting  and 
dispersing  all  assemblages  of  persons,  and  of  prose- 
cuting their  instigators,  etc."  Having  reached  this 
point,  having  warned  Caesar,  and  cried  out  lustily 
his  caveant  consults,  the  crafty  writer  resumed — for 
form's  sake — his  mantle  of  liberalism.  "  What  are 
we  aiming  at,"  he  observed  hypocritically,  "  in  es- 
tablishing this  preventive  right  of  the  Administra- 
tion ?  Is  it  to  exhort  it  to  avail  itself  of  it?  God 
forbid  ? "  And  he  thus  rejoined,  by  a  back  door, 
the  ranks  of  the  friends  of  liberty, 

In  the  departments,  the  journals  tamely  re- 
echoed those  of  Paris.  The  battle  was  commenced 
everywhere  and  by  all.  The  sergeants,  corporals, 
the  rank  and  file  of  literature  stepped  to  the  front 
in  the  wake  of  the  Marshals  of  Free-thought.  At 
Tarbes,  the  $re  Imperiale,  inspired  by  the  Prefect, 
rammed  his  carbine  with  arguments  fresh  from 
Paris,  and  fired  close  to  the  muzzle,  every  second 
day,  at  the  Supernatural.  The  little  Lavedan,  itself, 
had  found  a  few  grains  of  powder  —  terribly 


DUE  LADY  Of  LOVRDE8.  367 

damped,  it  it  true,  by  the  water  of  the  Grotto— 
and  assisted,  it  is  said,  by  Jacomet,  exerted  itself  to 
level  at  the  Miracle  its  hebdomadal  pistol,  which 
regularly  missed  fire  once  a  week. 

The  Univers,  the  Union,  the  majority  of  the 
Catholic  journals  supported  the  universal  shock 
gallantly.  Powerful  talents  placed  themselves  at  the 
service  of  Truth,  which  was  still  more  powerful. 
The  Christian  press  re-established  the  reality  of 
History  and  put  to  flight  the  miserable  quibbles  of 
philosophical  fanaticism. 

"  In  face  of  the  unexplained  occurrences  to  which 
a  supernatural  character  is  attributed  by  the  faith 
or  the  credulity  of  the  multitude,  the  civil  author- 
ity," observed  M.  Louis  Veuillot,  "  has — without  in- 
formation, but  also  without  success  —  decided  the 
question  in  the  negative.  The  spiritual  authority 
is  now  interfering  in  its  turn ;  it  is  its  right  and 
its  duty.  Before  judging,  it  seeks  information. 
It  has  instituted  a  Commission,  a  kind  of  tribunal  of 
investigation,  in  order  to  discover  facts,  study  their 
nature,  and  to  determine  their  character.  If  they 
are  true,  and  possess  a  supernatural  character,  the 
Commission  will  say  so.  If  they  are  false,  or  only 
produced  by  natural  causes,  it  will  state  this.  What 
more  can  our  adversaries  desire  from  us  ?  Would 
they  have  the  Bishop  abstain,  at  the  risk  of  slight- 
ing a  grace  which  God  might  deign  to  grant  to 
his  diocese,  or,  in  the  other  case,  suffer  a  supersti- 
tion to  strike  its  roots  deep  into  the  hearts  of  the 
faithful  ? 

"  The  Bishop  cannot  fail  to  have  remarked  the 
strangeness  of  this  conviction,  which  is  establish- 
ing itself  among  a  whole  people,  on  the  word  of  a 


368  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

poor  illiterate  little  girl.  He  must  have  asked  him 
self  the  question — How  came  these  cures,  which  are 
said  to  be  effected  by  a  few  drops  of  pure  water 
either  employed  as  u  lotion  or  drank  by  the  suf- 
ferers ?  And  if  there  were  in  reality  no  cures,  it  is 
necessary  for  us  to  know  why  it  was  so  generally 
believed  that  they  had  taken  place.  Now,  sup 
posing  that  the  water  is  pure,  as  the  chemists  say, 
and  that  nevertheless  the  cures  are  certain,  as  has 
been  affirmed  up  to  the  present  time  by  many  in- 
valids and  some  doctors,  we  do  not  see  any  difficulty 
in  recognizing  in  this  supernatural  and  miraculous 
agency,  with  all  due  deference  to  the  explanations 
offered  by  the  Siecle" 

This  vigorous  polemical  writer  faced  all  his 
enemies  at  the  same  time.  A  stroke  of  his  pen  was 
sufficient  to  upset  the  absurd  prejudice  of  denying 
Miracles  altogether,  and  of  refusing  even  an  ex- 
amination of  those  astounding  facts  which  whole 
multitudes  saw  with  their  eyes  and  proclaimed  on 
their  knees.  "  If  M.  Gu^roult  were  told  that,  in 
the  name  of  Christ,  a  great  miracle  was  being  per- 
formed on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  he  would  not 
go  to  see  it.  He  would  do  well,  since  he  is  deter- 
mined to  remain  incredulous ;  before  such  a  spec- 
tacle he  would  not  be  certain  of  finding  such  a 
natural  explanation  as  would  dispense  him  from 
going  to  confession.  But  he  would  do  better  to  see 
the  Miracle  and  believe,  yielding  to  the  testimony 
which  God,  in  His  mercy,  might  be  willing  to  give 
him.  In  either  case,  we  would  have  him  to  under- 
stand that  the  crowd  would  not  be  much  troubled 
at  his  absence,  and  would  experience  no  uneasi- 
ness at  hearing  him  declare  that  what  had  been 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  369 

seen  was  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world,  and  that 
the  crowd  was  merely  suffering  from  hallucination. 
Things  would  pass  in  Paris  exactly  as  at  Lourdes. 
There  would  be  a  general  cry  that  a  Miracle  had 
taken  place,  and.  if  it  really  was  a  Miracle,  the 
Miracle  would  produce  its  effect ;  in  other  words, 
that  many  men  who  have  not  hitherto  sought  to  de- 
cipher the  divine  will,  or  have  not  succeded  in  doing 
so,  would  know  it  and  put  it  in  practice ;  they 
would  love  God  with  all  their  heart  and  all  their 
soul  and  all  their  mind,  and  their  neighbor  as  them- 
selves. Such  is  the  end  God  would  attain  by  Mir- 
acles. Woe  to  those  who  refuse  to  profit  by  them." 
"  Those  who  reject  the  Supernatural,"  observed 
one  of  the  ancients,  "  sap  the  foundations  of  all  phil- 
osophy. They  do  so,  in  fact,  and  especially  since 
the  advent  of  Christianity,  because  wishing  to  with- 
draw God  from  the  world,  they  are  left  without  any 
explanation  of  the  world  or  of  humanity.  This 
God  whom  they  exclude,  some  deny  His  existence, 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  Him  altogether ;  others  banish 
Him  into  vacuity,  as  exacting  nothing  and  having 
nothing  to  exact  from  mankind,  whom  he  abandons 
to  chance,  after  having  created  them  in  a  freak  of 
his  disdainful  power.  Some,  denying  and  affirming 
His  existence  at  the  same  time,  as  if  they  wished 
to  glut  their  ingratitude  by  a  double  insult,  pretend 
to  discover  Him  everywhere,  which  dispenses 
them  from  acknowledging  and  adoring  H'm  any- 
where. However,  around  them  and  within  them- 
selves, humanity  cries  aloud  and  confesses  God. 
They  answer  with  sophisms,  which  do  not  really 
satisfy  them,  and  by  sarcasms,  the  compass  of  which 
they,  with  difficulty,  hide  from  themselves ;  and 


370  OUS  LADY  OF  LOUBDES. 

lastly,  their  science  and  their  reason,  driven  into 
absurdities,  stop  their  eyes  and  their  ears.  They 
sap  the  foundations  of  philosophy.  Does  God,  com- 
passionating  the  faith  of  the  weak,  which  these  false 
Doctors  would  abuse,  show  Himself  by  one  of  those 
unusual  strokes  of  his  power,  which  does  not  on  that 
account  cease  to  be  one  of  the  laws  of  the  world  ? 
They  reject  it.  Look !  We  do  not  wish  to  see ! 
David  has  said  of  the  sinner,  "  He  has  sworn  in  his 
heart  to  sin ;  he  refuses  to  understand  lest  he  should 
be  forced  to  do  well." 

"Ah !  doubtless,"  exclaims  elsewhere  the  indignant 
logician,  "  there  exists  a  miserable  crowd  at  whom 
all  these  common-places  may  be  boldly  flung ;  but 
there  are  also,  even  at  Lourdes,  readers  whose  good 
sense  rebels  and  asks  what  becomes  of  history,  pal- 
pable facts  and  right  and  simple  reason  in  systems 
of  the  kind,  '  with  their  decision  to  refuse  all  ex- 
amination, and  their  negation  a  priori"  " 

"  As  to  preventing  the  Episcopal  Commission  per- 
forming its  duties,  we  doubt  if  there  are  laws  confer- 
ring this  power  on  the  State ;  if  there  are,  the  wisdom 
of  the  State  should  abstain  from  putting  them  in 
force.  On  the  one  hand  nothing  could  be  more  fa- 
vorable to  the  growth  of  Superstition:  popular 
credulity  would  go  astray  to  its  heart's  content,  for 
*  there  is  no  law  which  can  oblige  the  Bishop  to 
pronounce  his  judgment  on  a  fact  of  which  he  can- 
not know  anything,  and  of  which  he  is  even  forbid- 
den to  know  anything.'  The  enemies  of  Supersti- 
tion have  only  one  thing  to  do,  which  is  to  institute 
a  Commission  themselves,  have  a  counter-investiga- 
tion, and  publish  its  result ;  provided,  of  course 
that  the  Episcopal  Commission  concluded  in  favor 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE& 


371 


01  the  Miracle.  For,  if  it  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  facts  were  false  or  only  produced  by  illusion, 
there  was  nothing  more  to  be  said  on  the  subject. 

In  the  midst  of  the  great  excitement  of  the  pub 
dc  mind,  the  Catholic  press  displayed  truly  admir- 
able reserve,  in  refusing  to  pronounce  any  judg 
ment  regarding  what  had  occurred  at  the  Rocks  of 
Massabielle  and  the  miraculous  cures.  It  did  not 
wish  to  anticipate  in  any  way  the  decision  of  the 
Episcopal  Commission.  It  confined  itself  to  refut- 
ing calumnies,  gross  libels  and  sophisms,  to  main- 
taining the  grand  historical  thesis  of  the  Superna- 
tural, and  to  reclaiming,  in  the  name  of  reason,  the 
rights  of  investigation  and  the  liberty  of  intelli- 
gence. 

"  Taw  .rrences  at  Lourdes,"  observed  the 
UniverSy  "have  not  yet  been  either  verified  or 
stamped  with  any  decided  character.  They  may 
arise  from  miraculous  agency,  or  from  a  mere  illu- 
sion. The  debate  will  be  settled  by  the  Bishop's 
decision. 

"  As  regards  ourselves,  we  think  we  have  replied 
to  whatever  has  been  advanced  seriously,  or  mere- 
ly speciously,  respecting  the  affair  at  Lourdes.  Here 
we  shall  pause.  It  was  not  our  part  to  allow  the 
press  to  incrust  these  facts  with  all  the  lies  it  could 
invent ;  it  would  not  be  our  part  to  reply  to  the  de- 
rision which  it  has  showered  so  unsparingly  upon 
them.  Wise  men  will  appreciate  the  wisdom  and 
good  faith  of  the  Church,  and,  as  is  usually  the  case, 
after  all  this  disturbance,  Truth  will  obtain  in  the 
world  her  little  nucleus  of  adherents,— -pusillus  grex 
— which  is,  however,  sufficient  to  maintain  the  reign 
of  truth  in  the  world." 


372  OUE  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

We  see  that,  in  this  vast  polemical  war,  which  was 
stirred  up  on  this  grand  question  of  Miracles  owing 
to  the  events  at  Lourdes,  the  two  camps  were  ani- 
mated with  the  most  opposite  spirit. 

On  the  one  side,  the  Catholics  appealed  for  a  fair 
investigation ;  on  the  other,  the  pseudo-philosophers 
dreaded  the  approach  of  light.  The  former  said 
"  Let  an  inquiry  be  instituted  ;  "  the  latter  exclaim- 
ed, "  Let  all  debates  be  cut  short !  "  The  motive  of 
one  party  was  liberty  of  conscience ;  while  the  oth- 
er entreated  Caesar  to  suppress  by  violence  this  re- 
ligious movement,  and  to  stifle  it,  not  by  force  of 
argument,  but  by  the  brutality  of  power. 

Every  one  of  impartial  mind,  placed  by  his  ideas 
or  position  outside  the  melee,  could  not  but  perceive 
in  the  clearest  point  of  view,  that  justice,  truth,  and 
reason,  were  on  the  side  of  the  Catholics.  For 
this,  it  was  sufficient  not  to  be  blinded  by  the  fury 
of  the  struggle  or  the  force  of  prejudice. 

Although  the  Administration,  in  the  person  of  a 
Commissary,  a  Prefect,  and  a  Minister,  had  unfor- 
tunately played  a  most  foolish  part  in  this  grave  af- 
fair, there  existed  one  powerful  man  who  had  never 
acted  in  it,  and  who,  whatever  might  be  his  reli- 
gious, philosophical,  and  political  ideas,  was  in  a 
condition  to  decide  with  perfect  impartiality.  The 
fact  of  the  Supernatural  having  manifested  itself  or 
not  at  the  gates  of  Lourdes,  was  a  matter  of  utter 
indifference,  as  far  as  his  schemes  and  the  progress 
of  his  own  affairs  were  concerned.  Neither  his  am- 
bition, nor  his  vanity,  nor  his  doctrinal  views,  nor 
his  antecedents,  were  pledged  on  either  side  of  the 
question.  Where  is  the  mind,  which,  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, would  not  deal  equitably,  and  give  rea- 


O VR  LADY   OF  LOURDE8.  3-3 

son  and  justice  their  due?  Men  do  not  violate  Jus- 
tice and  outrage  Truth,  except  when  they  deem  it 
of  utility  to  trample  them  under  foot,  in  view  of 
some  powerful  interest  connected  with  fortune,  am- 
bition, or  pride. 

The  man  of  whom  we  are  speaking  was  called 
Napoleon  III.,  and  was,  by  chance,  Emperor  of  the 
French. 

Impassible  as  was  his  wont,  mute  as  the  sphinxes 
of  granite  which  guard  the  gates  of  Thebes,  he  fol- 
lowed the  polemical  combat,  watching  the  fluctua- 
tions of  the  battle,  and  waiting  until  the  conscience 
of  the  public,  so  to  say,  dictated  to  him  his  deci- 
sion. 


IV. 


WHILE  God  thus  left  his  work  to  be  discussed 
by  man,  He  did  not  cease  to  grant  visible  graces 
to  those  humble  and  believing  souls,  who  repaired 
to  the  miraculous  Fountain  to  implore  the  sovereign 
power  of  the  Virgin  Mother. 

A  child  at  St.  Justin,  in  the  department  of  Gers, 
Jean-Marie  Tambourn£,  had  been  for  some  months 
entirely  disabled  in  his  right  leg.  He  suffered  such 
excruciating  pains  in  it,  that  his  limbs  had  been  vio- 
lently twisted  out  of  shape ;  and  his  foot,  completely 
turned  outwards  by  his  attacks  of  suffering,  had 
formed  a  right  angle  with  the  other  foot.  His  gen- 
eral  health  had  been  speedily  impaired  and  disor- 
ganized owing  to  his  state  of  continual  suffering, 
which  deprived  him  of  sleep  as  well  as  of  appetite. 
His  parents,  who  were  in  tolerably  easy  circum- 
stances, had  exhausted,  in  hopes  of  effecting  his  cure. 


$74  ous  LADY  OF  LOURDE& 

all  the  treatment  recommended  by  the  medical  men 
of  the  place.  Nothing  could  overcome  the  poor 
child's  inveterate  infirmity.  Recourse  had  been 
had  to  the  waters  of  Blousson,  and  to  medicinal 
baths,  but  almost  everything  had  failed.  Very 
slight  temporary  alleviation  of  his  sufferings  con- 
stantly led  to  disastrous  relapses. 

His  parents  had  lost  all  confidence  in  any  means 
recommended  by  science.  Disgusted  with  the  vain 
efforts  of  medical  men,  they  turned  their  hopes  to- 
wards the  Mother  of  Mercy,  who,  as  it  was  said, 
had  appeared  at  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  On  the 
twenty-third  of  September,  1858,  Jean- Marie  was 
taken  by  his  mother  to  Lourdes  in  a  public  convey 
ance.  The  distance  was  long,  being  about  fifty 
kilometres.  On  reaching  the  town,  the  mother,  car 
rying  her  unfortunate  son  in  her  arms,  repaired  to 
the  Grotto.  She  bathed  him  in  the  miraculous  wa- 
ter, praying  at  the  same  time  fervently  to  Her,  who 
has  willed  to  be  called  in  the  Rosary,  "  Health  of 
the  weak."  The  child  had  fallen  into  a  kind  of  ec- 
static state.  His  eyes  were  wide  open  and  his 
mouth  half  closed.  He  seemed  to  be  contemplating 
some  strange  spectacle. 

'  What  is  the  matter  with  you  ? "  enquired  his 
mother. 

"  I  see  God  and  the  Blessed  Virgin,"  he  replied 

The  poor  woman  on  hearing  these  words  experi- 
enced a  piofound  commotion  in  her  heart  of  hearts. 
A  strange  perspiration  stood  in  beads  on  her  face. 

The  child  had  come  to  himself  again. 

"  Mother,"  he  exclaimed,  "  my  ailment  is  gone  . 
I  do  not  feel  any  more  pain.  I  can  walk.  I  feel  ai 
well  as  I  was  long  a£o  !  " 


OUR  LADY   CF  LOURDZ8.  373 

Jean-Marie  spoke  the  truth.  Jean-Mane  was 
cured.  He  returned  to  Lourdes  on  foot.  He  dmed 
and  slept  there.  Simultaneously  with  the  disap- 
pearance of  his  infirmity  and  pain,  his  appetite  and 
sleep  returned.  The  next  day,  his  mother  returned 
to  the  Grotto  to  bathe  him  once  more,  and  had  a 
mass  of  thanksgiving  celebrated  in  the  parish- 
church  of  Lourdes.  Then,  both  started  on  their 
return  homewards,  but  on  foot,  and  not  in  any  ve- 
hicle. 

When,  after  having  slept  en  route,  they  reached 
St.  Justin,  the  child  perceived  his  father,  who  was 
on  the  high-road,  looking  out,  no  doubt,  for  the  car- 
nage which  was  to  bring  home  his  pilgrims.  Jean- 
Marie  recognizing  him  from  afar,  let  go  his  mother's 
hand  and  began  to  run  towards  him. 

The  father  almost  fainted  at  the  sight.  But  his 
dearly-loved  child  was  already  in  his  arms.  "  Fa- 
ther," he  exclaimed,  "  the  Blessed  Virgin  has  cured 
me!" 

The  fame  of  this  event  spread  like  wild-fire  in  the 
town,  where  Jean-Marie  was  known  by  every  one. 
People  came  to  see  him  in  crowds  from  all  quarters. 

The  sister  of  a  notary  at  Tarbes,  Mademoiselle 
Jeanne-Marie  Massot-Bordenave,  had  remained,  in 
consequence  of  a  long  and  serious  illness,  almost  en- 
tirely deprived  of  the  use  of  her  hanrls  and  feet. 
She  could  only  walk  with  the  greater,;  difficu.Jty. 
As  to  her  hands,  they  were  constantly  swollen,  of  a 
purple  color,  and  causing  her  pain,  and  almost  en- 
tirely useless.  Her  fingers,  bent  and  stiff,  could  not 
be  straightened,  and  were  the  victims  of  a  complete 
paralysis.  Having  been  to  see  her  brother  at  Tarbes, 
she  had  returned  to  her  own  residence  at  Arras,  in 


376  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

the  canton  of  Aucun.  She  was  alone  in  the  interi- 
fur  of  the  diligence.  A  flask  of  wine  given  to  her 
by  her  brother  having  by  accident  become  uncork- 
ed and  upset,  she  could  neither  pick  it  up  nor  re- 
place the  cork,  owing  to  the  complete  weakness  of 
her  fingers. 

Lourdes  happened  to  be  in  her  way  home.  She 
stopped  there  and  repaired  to  the  Grotto. 

Scarcely  had  she  plunged  her  hand  into  the  mi- 
raculous water,  when  she  instantly  felt  them  restored 
to  life.  Her  fingers  had  straightened  themselves, 
and  had  suddenly  refound  their  strength  and  flexi- 
bility. Delighted,  perhaps  beyond  her  fondest 
hopes,  she  plunged  her  feet  also  into  the  miraculous 
water,  and  they  were  cured  in  the  same  way  her 
hands  had  been.  She  fell  on  her  knees.  What  did 
she  say  to  the  Virgin  ?  How  did  she  thank  her  ? 
Such  prayers,  such  bursts  of  gratitude,  may  be  di- 
vined, but  they  cannot  be  written. 

After  this,  she  put  on  again  her  stockings  and 
shoes,  and,  with  a  firm  step,  took  the  road  leading 
to  the  town. 

A  young  girl  was  walking  in  the  same  direction, 
who  was  returning  from  the  wood,  and  carrying  on 
her  head  an  enormous  fagot.  The  weather  was 
warm,  and  this  poor  peasant  was  bathed  with  per- 
spiration, Exhausted  with  fatigue,  she  sat  down  on 
a  large  stone  at  the  side  of  the  road,  placing  at  her 
feet  her  burden,  which  was  too  heavy  for  her  weak- 
ness. At  that  moment,  Jeanne-Marie  Massot  passed 
before  her,  returning  active  and  radiant  with  joy 
from  the  divine  Fountain.  A  good  thought  descend- 
ed into  her  heart.  She  drew  near  to  the  young 
peasant-girl 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDRB.  377 

44  My  child,"  she  said  to  her,  "  the  Lord  has  just 
granted  me  a  most  remarkable  favor.  He  has  cured 
me;  He  has  removed  my  burden  from  me.  In  my 
turn,  I  should  like  to  assist  and  relieve  you." 

Saying  these  words,  Marie  Massot  raised,  with 
her  hands  so  recently  restored  to  life,  the  heavy 
fagot  thrown  on  the  ground,  placed  it  on  her  head, 
and  in  this  manner  re-entered  Lourdes  from  which, 
less  than  an  hour  before,  she  had  issued  infirm  and 
paralyzed.  The  first  fruits  oi  :*er  restored  strength 
had  been  nobly  employed — they  had  been  consecra- 
ted to  charity.  "  Freely  ye  have  received — freely 
give,"  is  a  text  to  be  found  somewhere  in  Holy 
Writ. 

A  woman  in  the  decline  of  life,  Marie  Capdevielle 
of  the  small  town  of  Livron,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Lourdes,  had  been  also  cured  of  a  most  severe 
deafness  which  was  beginning  to  become  invete- 
rate. 

"It  appears  to  me,"  she  used  to  say,  "as  if  I 
were  in  another  world,  when  I  hear  the  church- 
bells,  which  I  had  not  heard  for  upwards  of  three 
years." 

These  cures  and  many  others  continued  to  attest, 
in  a  manner  not  to  be  gainsaid,  the  direct  inter- 
vention of  God.  God  manifested  his  power  in  re- 
storing health  to  the  sick ;  and,  it  was  clear  that,  if 
He  had  permitted  persecution,  it  was  necessary  for 
the  carrying  out  of  his  designs.  It  depended  upon 
Him  to  cause  its  cessation,  and  for  that  purpose  to 
incline,  as  was  pleasing  to  Him  the  will  of  the  great 
ones  of  earth. 


378  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDBR. 

V. 

THE  polemical  discussion  of  the  press  on  the 
subject  of  the  Grotto  was  exhausted.  In  France 
and  in  foreign  countries,  the  public  conscience  had 
been  enabled  to  judge,  not  of  the  reality  of  the  su- 
pernatural occurrences,  but  of  the  violent  oppres 
sion  which  liberty  of  belief  and  right  of  examina 
tion  were  undergoing  in  a  corner  of  the  Empire. 
The  miserable  sophisms  of  anti-christian  fanaticism, 
and  of  intolerance  pretending  to  be  philosophical, 
had  not  been  able  to  withstand  the  forcible  logic 
of  the  Catholic  journals.  The  Debats,  the  Stec/e,  the 
Presse,  and  the  vile  crowd  of  irreligious  papers  wen? 
silent,  probably  regretting  that  they  had  engaged 
in  so  unfortunate  a  war,  and  had  given  so  much  pub- 
licity to  such  extraordinary  facts.  They  had  only 
succeeded  in  propagating  and  spreading  in  every 
country  the  fame  of  so  many  miracles.  From  Italy, 
Germany,  and  countries  still  more  distant,  persons 
wrote  to  Lourdes  begging  that  a  few  drops  of  the 
sacred  water  might  be  forwarded  to  them. 

At  the  Ministry  of  Public  Worship,  M.  Rouland 
persisted  in  wishing  to  oppose  himself  to  the  most 
sacred  of  liberties  and  in  pretending  to  arrest  the 
march  of  events. 

At  the  Grotto,  Jacomet  and  the  Gardes  persisted 
in  watching  day  and  night,  and  in  dragging  the  be- 
lievers to  the  bar  of  the  tribunals.  M.  Duprat  was 
constantly  engaged  in  condemning  delinquents. 

Placed  between  such  a  Minister  to  support  him 
and  such  agents  to  execute  his  wishes,  Baron  ft'assy 
remained  gallantly  in  Hs  absolutely  illogical 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDE8. 


379 


tion  and  viewed  with  complacency  the  omnipotence 
of  his  arbitrary  power.  More  and  more  exaspe- 
rated at  seeing  himself  deprived,  by  the  episcopal 
inquiry  and  the  analysis  of  M.  Filhol,  of  the  vain 
pretexts  of  religion  and  public  order  with  which  he 
had  originally  sought  to  veil  his  intolerance,  he 
abandoned  himself  with  pride  to  the  bitter  joy  of 
enforcing  measures  of  pure  unmitigated  tyranny. 
He  remained  deaf  to  the  unanimous  cry  which 
greeted  his  ears.  To  every  reason  adduced,  to  the 
most  undeniable  evidence,  he  opposed  his  own 
will :  "  Such  is  my  good  pleasure."  It  was  sweet 
to  him  to  be  stronger  in  his  individual  capacity  than 
the  multitudes,  stronger  than  the  Bishop,  stronger 
than  good  common  sense,  stronger  than  the  mira- 
cles, stronger  than  the  God  of  the  Grotto.  Etiamsi 
omnes,  ego  non. 

It  was  under  such  circumstances  that  two  emin- 
ent personages,  Mgr.  de  Salinis,  Archbishop  of 
Auch,  and  M.  de  Ressegnier,  formerly  deputy, 
waited  upon  the  Emperor,  who  was  at  that  moment 
at  Biarritz.  Napoleon  III.  received  at  the  same 
time  from  different  quarters  petitions  urgently  de- 
manding and  claiming  in  virtue  of  the  most  sacred 
rights,  the  withdrawal  of  the  arbitrary  and  violent 
measures  of  Baron  Massy.  "  Sire,"  so  ran  one  of 
these  petitions,  "  we  do  not  pretend  to  decide  in 
any  way  the  question  of  the  Apparitions  of  the 
Virgin,  although,  on  the  faith  of  astounding  mira- 
cles, which  they  claim  to  have  seen  with  their  own 
eyes,  almost  all,  in  these  districts,  believe  implicitly 
in  the  reality  of  these  supernatural  manifestations. 
What  is  certain  and  beyond  all  dispute,  is,  that  this 
Spring,  which  gushed  forth  all  at  once  —  and  which 


380  OUR  LADY  OF  LOVRDE8. 

has  been  closed  to  us  in  spite  of  the  scientific 
analysis  which  proclaimed  it  to  be  entirely  innocu- 
ous —  has  not  done  any  harm  to  any  one ;  what  is 
certain  is,  that,  on  the  contrary,  a  great  number  of 
persons  declare  that  they  have  recovered  their 
health  by  its  means.  In  the  name  of  the  rights  of 
conscience,  which  are  quite  independent  of  all  hu 
man  power,  allow  those  who  believe  to  go  and 
pray  there,  if  it  suits  them  to  do  so.  In  the  name 
of  mere  humanity  allow  the  sick  to  go  there  to  be 
cured,  if  such  is  their  hope.  In  the  name  of  intel- 
lectual liberty,  allow  those  minds  which  seek  for 
light  from  study  and  investigation  to  go  there  to 
discover  their  error  or  find  the  truth." 

The  Emperor,  as  we  have  stated  above,  was  quite 
disinterested  in  the  question,  or  rather  he  was  in 
terested  in  not  employing  his  strength  in  a  sterile 
opposition  to  the  progress  of  events.  He  was  inter- 
ested in  listening  to  the  cry  of  souls  demanding  the 
liberty  of  their  faith,  to  the  cry  of  intellect  demand- 
ing the  liberty  of  studying  and  seeing  for  itself.  He 
was  interested  in  being  just,  and  in  not  galling  by 
a  gratuitous  exercise  of  arbitrary  power  and  a  plain 
refusal  of  justice,  those  who  believed  what  they  had 
seen  with  their  own  eyes,  as  well  as  those,  who 
though  not  yet  convinced,  claimed  the  right  of  in- 
vestigating publicly  the  mysterious  occurrences 
which  were  exciting  the  attention  of  the  whole  of 
France. 

We  have  seen  what  impossible  fictions  the  worthy 
Mimste'-  Rouland  had  accepted  as  incontestable 
truths.  The  information  forwarded  to  the  Emperor 
by  his  Excellency  was  by  no  means  calculated  to 
enlighten  the  former  on  the  subject.  The  polemical 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  381 

discussions  in  the  journals,  although  they  had  tri- 
umphantly displayed  the  rights  of  one  party  ana 
the  intolerance  of  the  other,  had  not  succeeded  in 
giving  him  any  very  clear  idea  of  the  actual  state 
of  things.  It  was  only  at  Biarritz  that  it  was  pre- 
sented to  him  as  a  whole,  and  that  he  was  made  ac- 
quainted with  all  its  details. 

Napoleon  III.  was  by  no  means  demonstrative, 
and  it  rarely  happened  that  his  thoughts  were  ex- 
pressed by  words.  They  were  to  be  inferred  from 
his  actions.  On  learning  the  absurd  measures  of 
violence  by  which  the  Minister,  the  Prefect  and 
their  subordinates  were  bringing  discredit  on  the 
supreme  power  by  following  their  own  caprice,  a 
flash  of  cold  anger,  it  is  said,  lighted  up  his  jaded 
eye ;  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  convulsively,  and  a 
cloud  of  deep  displeasure  passed  over  his  brow.  He 
rang  the  bell  violently. 

"  Take  this  to  the  telegraph,"  he  said. 

It  was  a  laconic  dispatch  for  the  Prefect  of  the 
Hautes  Pyrenees,  ordering,  on  the  part  of  the  Em- 
peror, the  immediate  withdrawal  of  the  Decree  re- 
garding the  Grotto  of  Lourdes,  and  directing  that 
for  the  future  the  people  should  be  allowed  perfect 
freedom  of  action. 

VI. 

EVERY  one  knows  the  theories  of  Science  on  that 
.marvelous  electric  spark,  which  the  iron  threads, 
with  which  the  earth  is  covered  as  with  a  network, 
transport  from  one  pole  to  the  other  with  the 
rapidity  of  lightning.  Telegraphic  communication, 
gay  the  Savants,  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 


jg2  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUliDBS. 

thunder-bolt.  On  that  day  Baron  Massy  coincided 
in  opinion  with  the  Savants.  The  imperial  telegram, 
bursting  upon  him  all  at  once,  struck  him  suddenly 
dumb,  and  bewildered  him  as  completely  as  the 
sudden  fall  of  a  thunder-bolt  on  his  house  would 
have  done.  He  could  not  believe  in  its  reality 
The  more  he  thought  of  it  the  less  possible  did  it 
appear  to  him  to  retrace  his  steps,  condemn  his 
previous  measures,  and  retreat  from  his  present 
position  before  the  public  gaze.  He  must,  how- 
ever, either  swallow  the  bitter  draught,  or  send 
in  his  resignation  and  bid  a  sad  adieu  to  the 
sweets  of  office.  Fatal  alternative.  The  hearts  of 
functionaries  are  sometimes  a  prey  to  bitter  an- 
guish. 

When  we  are  overtaken  by  a  sudden  catastrophe, 
we  experience  some  difficulty  in  accepting  it  as 
final,  and  we  struggle  against  it  even  when  all  is 
lost.  Baron  Massy  did  not  escape  an  illusion  of 
this  nature.  He  hid  some  vague  hope  that  the 
Emperor  would  think  better  of  his  decision.  Under 
this  idea,  he  took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of 
keeping  the  despatch  secret  for  some  days  and 
of  not  obeying  its  injunctions.  He  wrote  to  the 
Emperor,  and  in  addition  to  this  employed  M. 
Rouland,  the  Minister — who  was  less  publicly  but 
as  completely  crushed  as  himself  by  the  unex- 
pected order  from  Biarritz-  -to  influence  the  Sover- 
eign. 

Napoleon  III.  paid  as  little  attention  to  the  ob- 
jections of  the  Minister  as  he  had  done  to  the  en- 
treaties and  supplications  of  the  Prefect.  The 
judgment  he  had  pronounced  was  based  on  the 
evidence  which  had  been  laid  before  him,  and  wat 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  383 

—  irrevocable.     The  steps  which  had   been  taker 
only  served  to  apprise  his  Majesty,  that  the  Prefect 
had  dared  to  neglect  his  orders  and  defer  their  exe- 
cution.    A  second  despatch  was  sent  from  Biarritz. 
It  was  so  worded  as  to  render  further  observations 
or  delay  out  of  the  question. 

Baron  Massy  had  only  to  choose  between  his 
pride  and  his  position  as  Prefect.  He  made  this 
melancholy  choice,  and  his  humility  induced  him  to 
retain  office. 

The  Head  of  the  Department  therefore  resigned 
himself  to  the  virtue  of  obedience.  However,  not- 
withstanding the  imperious  dispatches  of  his  Mas- 
ter, he  still  endeavored,  not  to  protract  the  struggle 

—  for  that  was  no   longer  possible  —  but  to  mask 
his  retreat  and  to  avoid  the  public  surrender  of  his 
arms. 

Owing  to  some  little  indiscretions  in  the  Bureau, 
perhaps  also  from  something  which  dropped  from 
those  who  had  gone  as  embassadors  to  the  Emperor, 
the  purport  of  the  orders  from  Biarritz  had  trans- 
pired to  a  certain  extent.  They  formed  the  topic 
of  conversation  every  where.  These  rumors  were 
neither  confirmed  nor  contradicted  by  the  Prefect. 
He  ordered  Jacomet  and  his  subordinates  to  sus- 
pend all  prosecutions  and  to  discontinue  all  surveil- 
lance. Such  moderation  following  immediately  on 
the  reports  in  circulation  with  regard  to  the  Emper- 
or's instructions,  would,  in  his  opinion,  be  sufficient 
to  cause  things  to  go  on  in  their  usual  course,  and 
the  Decree  might  fall  into  desuetude  without  the 
necessity  of  its  being  publicly  withdrawn.  It  was 
even  probable  that  the  people  of  the  district,  on  re- 
covering their  full  liberty  of  action,  would  hasten 


384  OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

to  tear  up  and  throw  into  the  Gave  the  posts  bear 
ing  the  notices  forbidding  any  trespass  on  the  lands 
of  the  commune,  as  we.l  as  the  barriers  which  pre 
vented  all  access  to  the  Grotto. 

M.  Massy  was  deceived  in  his  calculations,  plau- 
sible as  they  were.  In  spite  of  the  forbearance  of 
the  Police,  and  the  reports  in  circulation  which 
had  not  been  officially  contradicted — perhaps  for 
these  very  reasons — the  people  feared  some  snare. 
They  continued  to  go  and  pray  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Gave.  The  infractions  of  the  law 
were,  as  formerly,  only  isolated  instances.  No 
one  touched  the  posts  or  the  barriers.  Instead  of 
falling  of  its  own  accord,  as  the  Prefect  had  fondly 
hoped,  the  statu  quo  maintained  itself  obstinately  un- 
changed. 

The  character  of  Napoleon  III.  and  the  precise 
nature  of  the  orders  transmitted  from  Biarritz  duly 
considered,  a  situation  of  this  nature  was  perilous 
for  the  Prefect.  Baron  Massy  was  too  intelligent 
not  to  appreciate  this.  Every  moment  he  had 
cause  to  fear  that  the  Emperor  might  be  apprised 
all  at  once  of  the  manner  in  which  he  was  attempt- 
ing to  tack.  Every  hour,  doubtless,  he  dreaded  to 
receive  some  terrible  missive,  which  would  crush 
him  for  ever  and  banish  him  into  nothingness,  that 
is  to  say,  out  of  the  luminous  sphere  of  government, 
into  that  external  darkness,  where  the  unfortunate 
non-official  world  wears  out  its  fretful  existence. 

The  end  of  September  had  arrived. 

It  happened  that,  during  these  perplexities,  M. 
Fould  had  occasion  once  more  to  visit  Tarbes,  and 
even  to  take  Lourdes  on  his  way.  Did  he  increase 
the  Prefect's  terror  when  speaking1  to  him  of  hit 


OUR  LAD7  OF  LOURDEB.  385 

Master?  Did  the  Baron  receive  some  new  telegram 
couched  in  still  more  alarming  language  than  the 
other  two  ?  We  cannot  tell.  One  thing  is  certain, 
that  on  the  third  of  October,  owing  to  some  cause 
unknown,  M.  Massy  became  as  supple  as  a  reed 
trampled  under  the  foot  of  a  passer-by,  and  his 
arrogant  stiffness  seemed  to  give  way  to  a  sudden 
and  complete  prostration. 

The  next  day,  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  he 
issued  an  order  to  the  Mayor  of  Lourdes  to  rescind 
the  Decree  publicly,  and  to  have  the  posts  and  bar- 
riers removed  by  Jacomet. 

VII. 

M.  LACAD&  did  not  share  in  the  hesitation  of  M. 
Massy.  A  decision  of  this  nature  relieved  him  from 
the  heavy  onus  which  his  complex  desire  of  steer- 
ing cautiously  between  the  Prefect  and  the  masses, 
the  powers  of  heaven  and  those  of  man,  had  im- 
posed upon  him.  By  an  illusion  not  uncommon  in 
undecided  characters,  he  imagined  that  he  had  al- 
ways sided  with  the  prevailing  party,  and  he  drew 
up  a  proclamation  to  that  effect. 

'*  Inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Lourdes,  the  day 
we  have  so  longed  for  has  at  length  arrived  ;  we 
have  gained  it  by  our  wisdom,  our  perseverance, 
our  faith  and  by  our  courage." 

Such  was  the  import  and  tone  of  his  proclamation, 
of  which,  unfortunately,  the  text  has  not  reached  us. 

The  proclamation  was  read  with  the  sound  01 
drums  and  trumpets  in  every  quarter  of  the  town. 
At  the  same  time  the  following  placard  was  posted 
up  on  all  the  walls : 
17 


386  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

THE  MAYOR  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  LOURDES, 
Considering  the  instructions,  addressed  to  him, 

DECREES  : 

The  decree  issued  by  him  June  8th,  1858,  is  re- 
yoked. 

Done  at  Lourdes,  in  the  Hotel  of  the  Mayoralty 
October  5th,  1858.  A.  LACAD£,  Mayot 

During  this  time,  Jacomet  and  the  Sergents  dt 
Ville  repared  to  the  Grotto  to  remove  the  barriers 
and  posts. 

The  crowd  had  already  arrived  there,  and  was 
visibly  increasing.  Some  were  praying  on  their 
knees  and,  striving  to  prevent  themselves  from  being 
distracted  by  the  external  noises,  thanked  God  for 
having  brought  to  a  close  the  scandal  and  persecu- 
tion which  had  prevailed.  Others  remained  stand- 
ing, talking  in  low  tones  and  waiting,  not  without 
emotion,  to  see  what  was  about  to  occur.  Women 
in  great  number  were  telling  their  beads.  Many 
held  a  flask  in  their  hands,  wishing  to  fill  it  at  the 
very  spot  whence  the  Spring  was  gushing  forth. 
Flowers  were  thrown  over  the  barriers  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  Grotto.  As  to  the  barriers  them- 
selves, no  one  touched  them.  Those  who  had 
erected  them  publicly,  in  opposition  to  the  power 
of  God,  must  come  and  remove  them  publicly,  in 
deference  to  the  will  of  a  man. 

Jacomet  arrived.  Although,  in  spite  of  himself, 
he  betrayed  a  certain  degree  of  embarrassment  and 
excitement  of  manner,  and  his  deep  humiliation 
might  be  guessed  from  the  pallor  of  his  counte- 
aance,  he  did  not  present,  as  was  generally  expect 


OUS  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  387 

ed,  the  sad  aspect  of  one  who  had  been  vanquished 
m  the  struggle.  Escorted  by  his  subordinates,  fur- 
nished with  axes  and  mattocks,  he  advanced  boldly 
towards  the  scene  of  action.  With  an  affectation 
which  appeared  singular  under  the  circumstances, 
he  wore  the  official  costume  appropriated  to  state 
occasions.  His  broad  tricolored  scarf  girded  his 
loins  and  floated  over  his  full-dress  sword.  He 
passed  through  the  crowd  and  stepped  close  up  to 
the  barriers.  A  vague  tumultuous  noise,  a  low 
murmur,  and  a  few  solitary  cries  proceeded  from 
the  multitude.  The  Commissary  mounted  on  a 
fragment  of  rock  and  made  a  gesture  that  he  wish- 
ed to  say  a  few  words.  Every  one  listened  to  him. 
"  My  Friends,  it  is  these  barners,  they  say,  which, 
to  my  great  regret,  the  municipality  erected  in 
obedience  to  the  orders  they  received,  which  are 
now  about  to  be  demolished.  Who  has  suffered 
more  than  myself  from  this  obstacle  opposed  to 
your  piety  ?  I  am  a  religious  man  myself,  and  I 
share  your  faith.  But  a  functionary,  like  a  soldier, 
has  but  one  watchword,  which  is  the  duty — often  a 
very  painful  one — of  obedience.  The  responsibility 
does  not  rest  with  him.  Well,  my  friends,  when  1 
witnessed  your  admirable  calmness,  your  respect 
for  power,  and  your  persevering  faith,  I  notified  it 
to  the  superior  authorities.  I  pleaded  your  cause, 
niy  friends.  I  said, '  Why  shouldthese  harmless  peo- 
ple be  hindered  from  praying  at  the  Grotto,  and 
from  drinking  at  the  Spring  ?'  In  consequence  of 
this,  every  prohibition  has  been  removed,  and  the 
Prefect  and  myself  have  resolved  to  demolish  for 
ever  these  barriers  which  were  so  annoying  to  you 
and  still  more  so  to  myself. ' 


388  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB, 

The  crowd  maintained  a  cold  silence.  Some 
young  men  whispered  together  and  laughed.  Jaco- 
met  was  visibly  discomposed  at  the  failure  of  his 
oration.  He  ordered  his  subordinates  to  remove  the 
palings.  It  was  done  with  considerable  prompti- 
tude. A  heap  was  made  of  the  boards  and  debris 
near  the  Grotto,  and  the  Police  carried  it  away  as 
soon  as  it  was  dark. 

The  town  of  Lourdes  was  in  a  great  state  of 
emotion.  During  the  afternoon,  the  crowd  kept 
going  to  and  fro  on  the  road  leading  to  the  Grotto. 
The  faithful,  in  countless  throngs,  knelt  devoutly 
before  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  They  sang  can- 
ticles, and  recited  the  litanies  of  the  Virgin.  Virg* 
potens,  ora  pro  nobis.  They  quenched  their  thirst 
at  the  Spring.  The  believers  were  free,  God  had 
achieved  the  victory. 


NINTH  BOOK. 
I. 

IN  consequence  ol  the  events  we  have  already 
narrated,  the  prolonged  sojourn  of  Baron 
Massy  in  that  part  of  the  country  was  an  utter  im- 
possibility. The  Emperor  lost  no  time  in  transfer- 
ring him  to  the  first  prefecture  which  became  va- 
cant in  the  Empire.  By  a  singular  coincidence 
his  new  prefecture  was  that  of  Grenoble.  The 
Baron  left  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  behind  him,  sole- 
ly, as  it  would  appear,  to  meet  with  Our  Lady  of 
Salette. 

Jacomet  also  quitted  the  district.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Commissary  of  Police  in  another  depart- 
ment. Replaced  in  his  proper  sphere,  he  con- 
tributed, with  rare  shrewdness,  to  the  discovery  of 
the  roguery  of  some  dangerous  scoundrels  who  had 
foiled  the  efforts  of  his  predecessors,  and  the  most 
active  pursuit  of  the  Parquet.  The  affair  in  ques- 
tion was  an  extensive  robbery — to  the  amount  of 
two  or  three  hundred  thousand  francs — of  funds 
belonging  to  a  railway  company.  This  was  the 
starting-point  of  his  fortune  in  the  Police,  for  which 
he  had  an  unmistakable  vocation.  His  remarkable 
aptitude  for  this  branch  of  the  public  service,  which 

(389) 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOUKDE8. 

was  justly  appreciated  by  his  superiors,  raised  him 
eventually  to  a  very  high  position. 

The  Procureur  Imperial,  M.  Dutour,  was,  ere 
long,  transferred  to  other  duties.  M.  Lacade  re- 
mained in  his  position  as  Mayor,  and  we  shall  see 
his  shadowy  profile  once  or  twice  more  in  the  last 
pages  of  this  narration. 

Although  Monseigneur  Laurence  had  instituted 
a  Tribunal  of  Investigation  towards  the  end  ot 
July,  it  had  been  his  wish  to  see  the  effervescence 
of  the  public  cool  down  of  its  own  accord,  before 
he  permitted  it  to  enter  on  its  duties.  "  To  wait," 
he  thought, "  could  never  lead  to  compromising  any- 
thing, when  the  question  regarded  the  works  ot 
God,  who  holds  time  in  His  own  hands."  The 
event  had  shown  he  was  right.  After  the  tumul- 
tuous discussions  of  the  French  press,  and  the  vio- 
lent measures  of  Baron  Massy,  the  Grotto  had  be- 
come free  of  access,  and  there  was  no  longer  cause 
for  dreading  the  scandal  of  seeing  the  members  ol 
the  Episcopal  Commission  arrested  by  an  agent  of 
Police  on  the  road  to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle, 
when  repairing  there  to  accomplish  their  work  and 
study,  on  the  very  spot  where  the  Apparition  had 
manifested  herself,  the  traces  of  the  hand  of  God. 

On  the  i /th  of  October,  the  Commissioners  be- 
took themselves  to  Lourdes.  The  youthful  Seer 
was  interrogated  by  them. 

"  Bernadette/'says  the  Secretary,  in  his  official  re- 
port, "  presented  herself  before  us  with  great  mod- 
esty, but  with  remarkable  self-composure.  She  dis- 
played great  calmness  and  absence  of  embarrass- 
ment,  in  the  midst  of  so  numerous  an  assembly,  and 
in  presence  of  distinguished  ecclesiastics  whom  she 


OUH  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  391 

had  never  seen  before,  but  whose  mission  had  been 
explained  to  her." 

The  young  girl  recounted  the  Apparitions,  the 
words  of  the  Virgin,  the  order  given  by  Mary  to 
have  a  chapel  built  on  the  very  spot  consecrated  to 
her  worship,  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  Foun- 
tain and  the  name  of  the  "  Immaculate  Conception" 
which  the  Vision  had  given  to  herself.  She  ex- 
plained, with  the  grave  certitude  of  a  witness  sure 
of  the  facts,  and  with  the  humble  candor  of  a  child, 
all  that  was  personal  to  herself  in  this  supernatural 
drama,  which  had  extended  over  nearly  a  whole 
year.  She  replied  to  all  the  questions  put  to  her, 
and  left  no  obscure  doubts  in  the  minds  of  those 
who  interrogated  her,  no  longer  in  the  name  of 
men  such  as  Jacomet,  the  Procureur,  or  of  so  many 
others,  but  in  that  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  eter- 
nal spouse  of  God.  Our  readers  are  already  aware 
of  all  the  facts  to  which  she  bore  testimony,  as  we 
have  explained  those  events,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  occurred,  in  different  portions  of  this  narrative. 

The  Commissioners  visited  the  Rocks  of  Massa« 
bielle,  and  saw  for  themselves  the  enormous  flow 
of  the  divine  Spring.  They  established,  from  the 
unanimous  declaration  of  persons  belonging  to  the 
district,  that  the  Spring  was  not  in  existence  pre- 
vi  ">usly  to  its  having  gushed  forth  before  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude,  from  beneath  the  hand  of  the 
youthful  Seer,  when  in  a  state  of  ecstacy. 

At  Lourdes  and  at  places  distant  from  the  town, 
the  Commissioners  investigated  most  minute.y  the 
extraordinary  cures  which  had  been  effected  by  the 
use  of  the  wate  •  of  the  Grotto. 

There  were,  in  this  delicate  inquiry,  two  verjr  dis- 


392  OUJt  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

tinct  parts :  the  facts  themselves  and  their  attend 
ant  circumstances  depended  on  human  testimony 
the  examination  into  the  natural   or  supernatural 
character  of  these  facts  depended — at  least  to  a  great 
extent — on  the  verdict   of  medical   science.     The 
method  pursued  by  the  tribunal  of  investigation  was 
suggested  by  this  double  conception. 

Making  the  tour  of  the  dioceses  of  Tarbes,  Audi 
and  Bayonne,  the  Commissioners  summoned  before 
them  all  those  who  had  been  pointed  out  to  them 
as  having  been  cured  in  so  remarkable  a  manner ; 
they  questioned  them  with  the  utmost  minuteness 
on  all  the  details  of  their  malady,  and  of  their  re- 
storation— whether  sudden  or  gradual — to  health. 
They  employed  men  of  human  science  to  put  to 
them  technical  questions,  which,  perhaps,  would 
never  have  occurred  to  the  minds  of  theologians. 
They  assembled  together,  in  order  to  submit  these 
declarations  to  the  test  of  cross-examination,  the  re- 
latives, friends,  and  neighbors  of  those  who  claimed 
to  have  been  cured,  including  all  the  witnesses  of 
the  different  phases  of  the  event,  those  who  had 
seen  the  invalid,  those  who  had  been  present  at  the 
cure,  etc.,  etc. 

Having  once  arrived  in  this  manner  at  an  absolute 
certainty  relative  to  the  facts  taken  as  a  whole,  and 
in  their  details,  the  Commissioners  submitted  them> 
in  order  to  ascertain  their  value,  to  two  eminent  and 
qualified  physicians,  whom  they  had  admitted  as 
colleagues.  These  physicians  were  Doctor  Verges 
medical  superintendent  of  the  baths  at  Bareges  and 
Fellow-professor  of  the  Faculty  of  Montpellier,  and 
Doctor  Dozons,  who  had  already  studied  several  of 
these  strange  incidents  on  his  own  account 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  393 

Each  medical  man  stated  in  a  separate  report,  his 
opinion  on  the  nature  of  the  cure ;  sometimes  re- 
jecting the  Miracle  to  attribute  the  cessation  of  the 
malady  in  question  to  natural  causes ;  sometimes 
declaring  the  fact  to  be  utterly  inexplicable,  except 
by  a  supernatural  action  of  divine  power;  and  last- 
ly, sometimes  not  arriving  at  any  conclusion  and  re- 
maining in  doubt — a  doubt,  more  or  less,  inclining 
to  one  or  other  of  the  above  solutions. 

Furnished  with  this  double  element — the  entire 
knowledge  of  facts  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  conclu- 
sions arrived  at  by  Science  on  the  other — the  Com- 
missioners deliberated  and  submitted  their  judg- 
ment to  the  Bishop,  together  with  all  the  documents 
connected  with  the  case. 

The  Commissioners  had  not  and  could  not  have 
any  preconceived  opinions.  Believing  on  principle 
in  the  Supernatural,  which  is  so  often  met  with  in 
the  history  of  the 'world,  they  were  at  the  same  time, 
aware,  that  nothing  tends  so  much  to  discredit  true 
miracles,  proceeding  from  God,  as  false  prodigies 
contrived  by  man.  Equally  indisposed  to  affirm  be- 
forehand or  to  reject  prematurely,  and  being  entirely 
unprejudiced  either  for  or  against  the  Miracle,  they 
confined  their  task  to  that  of  investigation,  and  truth 
was  the  sole  object  of  their  researches.  Appealing 
— in  order  to  throw  light  on  the  various  facts  they 
were  studying — to  every  kind  of  information  and 
every  kind  of  testimony,  they  acted  with  entire  pub- 
licity. They  opened  their  sessions  to  unbelievers, 
as  well  as  to  those  who  believed.  Firmly  resolved 
to  discard  with  relentless  severity  all  that  was  vague 
and  uncertain,  and  to  accept  only  such  facts  as  were 
precise,  well-founded,  and  incontestable,  they  reject 
IT* 


394 


LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


ed  all  declarations  which  were  grounded  on  mere 
on-dits  and  empty  reports. 

To  every  witness  who  appeared  before  them,  the 
Commissioners  imposed  two  conditions  :  —  the  first, 
only  to  depose  to  what  he  knew  personally  and  had 
seen  with  his  own  eyes  ;  the  second,  to  pledge  him- 
self to  tell  the  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  by 
the  solemn  formality  of  an  oath. 

With  such  precautions,  and  with  an  organization 
so  prudent  and  wise,  it  was  impossible  for  false  mir- 
acles to  succeed  in  deceiving,  even  for  a  moment, 
the  judgment  of  the  Commissioners.  This  was, 
besides,  still  more  impossible,  in  the  midst  of  so 
many  hostile  intellects  stirred  up  against  the  Super- 
natural, and  deeply  interested  in  combating  and 
upsetting  every  error,  every  exaggeration,  every 
doubtful  assertion,  and  every  miraculous  fact  which 
did  not  admit  of  the  clearest  demonstration. 

If  then,  true  miracles,  incompletely  established, 
were  destined  not  to  receive  the  sanction  of  the 
Commission  of  Inquiry,  it  was  at  least  absolutely 
certain  that  no  lying  wonders  could  maintain  their 
ground  before  the  severity  of  its  examination,  or 
take  their  place,  in  its  judgment,  among  the  ad- 
mirable facts  of  the  divine  and  supernatural  order. 

Whoever,  wishing  to  contest  the  truth  of  such  or 
such  a  miracle,  could  produce  not  merely  vague 
general  theories,  but  precise  articulations  and  a  pen 
sonal  knowledge  of  facts,  could  publicly  demand  the 
right  of  presenting  himself.  Not  to  do  so,  was  ti, 
submit  to  the  sentence  pronounced,  and  to  confess 
that  he  had  nothing  formal  or  particular  to  allege, 
and  was  unable  to  furnish  any  counter-evidence. 
Forbearance  evidently  implied  this.  It  is  not  when 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDB8.  395 

parties  are  Heated  with  passion  and  the  ardor  of  a 
long  struggle,  that  they  suffer  judgment  to  go  by 
default.  To  refuse  the  combat  is  to  acknowledge  a 


III. 


DURING  several  months  the  Episcopal  Commis- 
sioners repaired  to  the  houses  of  those  whom  pub 
lie  notoriety  and  previous  information  designated  to 
them  as  having  been  the  objects  of  one  of  those  re- 
markable cures,  the  character  of  which  it  rested 
with  them  to  determine. 

The  truth  of  a  great  number  of  Miracles  was 
established.  Among  these,  many  have  already 
found  a  place  in  the  course  of  this  narration.  Two 
of  them  had  occurred  quite  recently,  shortly  after 
the  withdrawal  of  the  Prefect's  decree  and  the  re- 
opening of  the  Grotto.  One  took  place  at  Nay, 
the  other  at  Tarbes.  Although  the  two  Christian 
women  who  had  been  the  objects  of  heavenly  favor 
were  unknown  to  each  other,  a  mysterious  link 
seemed  to  unite  these  events.  Let  us  narrate  them, 
one  after  the  other,  just  as  we  investigated  them 
ourselves  and  committed  them  to  writing  under  the 
impression  of  the  living  testimonies  we  had  our- 
selves heard. 

In  the  town  of  Nay — the  same  in  which,  some 
months  previously,  young  Henry  Busquet  had  been 
miraculously  cured — a  female,  already  considerably 
advanced  in  years,  Mme.  Rizan,  a  widow,  was  on 
the  point  of  death.  Her  life,  at  least  for  the  last 
twenty-four  or  twenty-five  years,  had  been  one  of 
perpetual  pain.  Attacked  in  1832  by  the  cholera, 


396  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURVE8. 

she  had  remained  almost  entirely  paralyzed  in  ner 
left  side :  she  was  quite  lame,  and  could  only  move 
a  few  steps  in  the  interior  of  her  house  by  support- 
ing  herself  against  the  walls  or  different  articles  of 
furniture.  Rarely,  twice  or  three  times  a  year,  in 
the  height  of  summer,  was  she  able — assisted  and 
almost  carried  by  strangers — to  repair  to  the  parist 
church  of  Nay,  near  as  it  was  to  her  residence,  to 
hear  Mass.  It  was  impossible  for  her,  without  as- 
sistance from  others,  either  to  kneel  down  or  to  nse 
from  a  kneeling  posture.  One  of  her  hands  was 
entirely  atrophied.  Her  general  health  had  suf- 
fered, not  less  than  her  limbs,  from  this  terrible 
scourge.  She  was  subject  to  continual  vomitings 
of  blood.  Her  stomach  was  unable  to  bear  any 
solid  food.  A  little  meat  gravy,  light  soups  and 
coffee  had,  however,  sufficed,  in  her  deplorable  con- 
dition, to  sustain  in  her  the  flickering  flame  of  life — 
a  flame  ever  weak,  ever  on  the  point  of  being  ex- 
tinguished on  its  mysterious  hearth,  and  powerless 
to  convey  sufficient  warmth  to  her  wretched  body, 
which  was  often  attacked  with  icy  trembling  fits. 
The  poor  woman  was  always  cold.  Even  in  the 
midst  of  the  heats  of  July  and  August  she  always 
begged  to  see  the  fire  blazing  on  the  hearth,  anr1 
requested  to  have  her  old  invalid  -  chair  wheeled 
close  to  the  mantel-piece. 

For  the  last  sixteen  or  eighteen  months  her  state 
had  changed  considerably  for  the  worse,  and  the 
paralysis  of  her  left  side  had  become  total ;  the 
same  infirmity  commenced  to  attack  her  right  leg. 
Her  atrophied  limbs  were  tumefied  beyond  meas- 
ure, as  is  sometimes  the  case  with  those  of  dropsicaj 
patients. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  397 

Mme.  Rizan  had  been  obliged  to  quit  her  arm. 
chair  for  her  bed.  She  could  not  move  in  it,  so 
great  was  her  state  of  infirmity,  and  those  about 
her  were  obliged  to  turn  her  from  time  to  time 
and  to  change  her  position.  She  was  nothing  more 
than  a  helpless  mass.  Her  sense  of  feeling  was 
gone  as  well  as  her  power  of  moving.  "Where 
are  my  legs  ?"  she  used  to  say  sometimes  when  any 
one  came  to  move  her  from  one  part  of  her  bed  to 
another. 

Her  limbs  were,  so  to  say,  drawn  up  together  and 
bent  back  on  themselves.  She  kept  constantly  lying 
on  her  side  in  the  form  of  a  Z- 

Two  medical  men  had  succcessively  attended 
her.  Doctor  Talamon  had  long  since  regarded  her 
as  incurable,  and,  if  he  continued  to  visit  her  fre- 
quently, it  was  only  as  a  friend.  He  refused  to  pre- 
scribe any  remedies  for  her,  alleging  that  any  treat- 
ment, no  matter  of  what  nature,  would  be  fatally 
injurious,  and  that  drugs  and  medicines  could  only 
weaken  the  poor  invalid  and  exhaust  still  more  her 
system,  which  had  already  been  so  terribly  attack- 
ed. Doctor  Subervielle,  at  the  entreaty  of  Mme. 
Rizan,  had  prescribed  some  remedies,  which  were 
speedily  acknowledged  to  be  useless,  and  had  also 
given  up  all  hope. 

If  her  paralyzed  limbs  had  become  insensible  the 
sufferings  experienced  by  this  unfortunate  woman 
elsewhere,  sometimes  in  her  stomach  and  sometimes 
in  her  head,  were  of  the  most  fearful  description. 
Owing  to  the  fact  of  her  being  obliged  to  remain 
always  in  one  position,  her  poor  body  was  afflicted 
with  two  painful  sores — one  in  the  hollow  of  her 
chest  and  the  other  in  her  back.  On  her  side,  in 


398  OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDE8. 

several  places,  her  skin  was  worn  away  by  long 
contact  with  the  bed-clothes,  and  exposed  her 
flesh  denuded  and  bleeding.  Her  death  was  at 
hand. 

Mme.  Rizan  had  two  children.  Her  daughter, 
called  Lubine,  lived  with  her  and  attended  her 
with  unceasing  devotedness.  Her  son,  M.  Romain 
Rizan,  had  a  situation  in  a  commercial  house  at 
Bordeaux. 

When  the  last  hope  was  given  up  and  Doctor 
Subervielle  had  declared  that  the  poor  sick  woman 
had  scarcely  a  few  days  to  live,  M.  Romain  Rizan 
was  sent  for  in  all  haste.  He  came,  embraced  his 
mother,  and  received  her  blessing  and  last  farewell. 
Then,  being  obliged  to  start  on  his  return  imme- 
diately, in  consequence  of  an  order  which  recalled 
him,  torn  from  the  foot  of  this  death-bed  by  the 
cruel  tyranny  of  business,  he  left  his  mother  with 
the  painful  certainty  of  seeing  her  no  more. 

The  dying  woman  had  been  administered.  Her 
death-agony  was  prolonged  amid  intolerable  suf- 
ferings. 

"  O  God  !"  she  often  exclaimed,  "  be  pleased  to 
put  an  end  to  this  intolerable  pain.  Grant  that  I 
may  either  recover  or  die  !" 

She  sent  to  beg  the  Sisters  of  the  Cross  at  Izon— 
her  sister-in-law  being  their  Superior — to  make  a 
Nvjena  to  the  most  Blessed  Virgin  in  order  to 
obtain  from  her  power,  either  her  recovery  or 
death.  She  also  expressed  a  wish  to  drink  some 
of  the  water  of  the  Grotto.  One  of  her  neighbors, 
Mme.  Nessans,  who  happened  to  be  going  to 
Lourdes,  promised  to  bring  her  some  of  it  on  her 
return. 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDE8.  399 

For  some  time  past  she  had  been  watched  day 
and  night.  On  Saturday,  October  16,  a  violent 
crisis  announced  the  inevitable  approach  of  her  last 
moments.  She  was  continually  spitting  blood.  A 
livid  tint  spread  over  her  emaciated  countenance. 
Her  eyes  became  glassy.  The  poor  invalid  seldom 
spoke  except  to  complain  of  the  acute  pain  she  suf- 
fered. "  Lord !"  she  often  repeated,  "  Lord  Jesus* 
how  I  suffer !  Can  I  not  then  die  ?" 

"  Her  wish  will  be  very  shortly  granted,"  observ- 
ed Doctor  Subervielle,  as  he  left  her.  "  She  will 
die  in  the  course  of  the  night,  or,  at  latest,  towards 
daybreak.  There  is  no  more  oil  in  the  lamp." 

From  time  to  time  the  door  of  the  sick-room  was 
opened  to  admit  friends,  neighbors  and  priests — 
among  the  latter  the  Abbe  Dupont  and  the  Abbd 
Sanareus,  vicaire  of  Nay — who  entered  silently,  and 
asked,  in  a  low  voice,  if  the  dying  woman  still 
breathed. 

At  night,  when  he  left  her,  the  Abbd  Andre  Du- 
pont, her  consoler  and  friend,  could  not  restrain  his 
tears. 

"  Before  to-morrow  she  will  be  dead,"  said  he, 
"  and  I  shall  only  see  her  again  in  Paradise." 

Night  had  come,  and,  by  degrees,  the  house  had 
been  reduced  to  a  state  of  solitude.  On  her  knees, 
before  a  statue  of  the  Virgin,  Lubine  was  praying, 
all  earthly  hope  having  vanished.  The  deepest 
silence  reigned  around,  only  disturbed  by  the  pain- 
ful breathing  of  the  sick  woman.  It  was  nearly 
midnight. 

"  Lubine !"  exclaimed  the  dying  mother. 

Lubine  rose  hastily  from  her  knees  and  approach 
ed  the  bed. 


OUR  tsADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

"  What  do  you  wish,  dearest  mother?"  she  said, 
taking  her  by  the  hand. 

"  My  dear  child,"  said  the  dying  mother  to  her 
in  a  strange  tone  of  voice,  which  seemed  to  pro- 
ceed, as  it  were,  from  a  heavy  dream,  "  go  to  the 
house  of  our  friend  Mme.  Nessans,  who  was  tc 
have  returned  to-night  Irom  Lourdes.  Beg  her  to 
give  you  a  glass  of  the  water  from  the  Grotto.  It 
is  this  water  which  is  to  cure  me.  The  Blessed 
Virgin  so  wills  it." 

"  My  dearest  mother,"  replied  Lubine,  it  is  now 
too  late  to  go  there.  "  I  cannot  leave  you  alone, 
and  every  one  at  Mme.  Nessans's  must  be  in  bed  by 
this  time.  To-morrow  morning  I  will  go  for  it  as 
early  as  possible." 

"  Well,  let  us  wait,  then." 

The  sick  mother  relapsed  into  silence. 

The  night  passed  away  long  and  weary. 

At  length  daybreak  was  announced  by  the  joyous 
Sunday  bells.  The  morning  Angelus  bore  upwards 
to  Mary  the  prayers  of  earth,  and  celebrated  the 
eternal  memory  of  her  omnipotent  maternity.  Lu- 
bine hastened  to  the  house  of  Mme.  Nessans,  and 
soon  returned,  bringing  with  her  a  bottle  of  the 
water  from  the  Grotto. 

"  Here,  dearest  mother,  drink !  and  may  the 
Blessed  Virgin  come  to  your  assistance." 

Mme.  Rizan  raised  the  glass  to  her  lips  and 
swallowed  a  few  mouthfuls. 

"  O  my  child,  my  child,  it  is  Life  that  I  am  drink- 
ing. There  is  Life  in  this  water.  Bathe  my  face 
with  it.  Bathe  all  my  body  with  it. 

Trembling  from  head  to  foot,  and  almost  besid« 
herself  with  emotion,  Lubine  moistened  a  piece  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDEB.  401 

linen  in  the  miraculous  water  and  washed  her 
mother's  face  with  it. 

"  I  feel  myself  cured  !"  exclaimed  the  latter,  in  a 
tone  of  voice  which  had  become  clear  and  strong. 
"  I  feel  myself  cured  !" 

Lubine,  in  the  meantime,  was  bathing  with  the 
moistened  linen  her  poor  mother's  paralyzed  and 
swollen  limbs.  With  transports  of  joy,  mingled 
with  I  know  not  what  shudder  of  terror,  she  per- 
ceived the  enormous  swelling  to  subside  and  dis- 
appear under  the  rapid  movement  of  her  hand,  and 
me  skin,  which  was  violently  stretched  and  shining, 
to  resume  its  natural  appearance.  Suddenly  and 
entirely,  without  going  through  any  transition  state, 
health  and  life  were  reviving  beneath  her  fingers. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  her  mother,  "  as  if  fiery 
pimples  were  issuing  out  of  every  part  of  mv 
body." 

It  was,  doubtless,  the  internal  principle  of  the 
malady  which  was  taking  to  flight  from  the  body 
hitherto  so  racked  with  pain,  and  was  quitting  it 
for  ever,  owing  to  the  agency  of  a  superhuman 
will. 

All  this  had  been  accomplished  in  a  moment.  In 
one  or  two  minutes  the  body  of  Mme.  Rizan — ap- 
parently just  before  hi  the  death-agony — had,  on 
being  bathed  by  her  daughter,  recovered  the  pleni- 
tude of  its  strength. 

"  I  am  cured  !  altogether  cured !"  exclaimed  the 
happy  woman.  "  How  kind  the  Blessed  Virgin  is ! 
How  powerful  she  is  !' 

Then,  after  this  outburst  of  gratitude  to  heaven, 
the  material  appetites  of  earth  made  themselvei 
forcibly  felt. 


403  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

"  Lubine,  dea .  est  Lubine,  I  am  hungry.  1  want 
something  to  eat." 

"  Will  you  have  some  coffee,  or  will  you  have 
some  wine  or  milk?"  stammered  out  the  young 
girl,  troubled  at  the  almost  astounding  suddenness 
of  the  Miracle, 

"  I  would  like  to  have  some  bread  and  meat,  my 
child,"  said  her  mother.  "  It  is  now  more  than 
twenty-four  years  since  I  have  tasted  either." 

There  happened  to  be  some  cold  meat  and  a  little 
wine  near  at  hand.  Mme.  Rizan  partook  of  both. 

"And  now,"  said  she,  "  I  wish  to  rise." 

"  It  is  impossible,  dearest  mother,"  said  Lubine, 
nesitating,  in  spite  of  herself,  to  believe  her  eyes, 
and  fancying,  perhaps,  that  the  cures  which  pro- 
ceeded directly  from  God  were  subject,  like  those 
of  an  ordinary  nature,  to  the  slow  progress  and  pre- 
cautions of  convalescence. 

Mme.  Rizan  insisted  on  leaving  her  bed,  and 
asked  for  her  clothes.  They  had  been  for  many 
months  folded  up  and  put  in  their  place  in  a  ward- 
robe of  an  adjoining  chamber,  under  the  idea,  alas ! 
that  they  would  be  no  more  required.  Lubine  left 
the  room  in  quest  of  them.  She  returned  almost 
immediately,  but  on  reaching  the  threshold  of  the 
door,  she  uttered  a  loud  cry  and  let  fall  on  the 
floor — so  great  was  the  shock — the  dress  she  had  in 
her  hand. 

Her  mother,  during  Lubine's  short  absence,  had 
sprung  out  of  her  bed  and  had  gone  to  kneel  be- 
fore the  mantelpiece,  on  which  there  was  a  statue 
of  the  Virgin.  There  she  was,  with  clasped  hands, 
pouring  out  her  gratitude  to  her  powerful  deliv- 
erer 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8.  403 

Lubine  terrified,  as  if  she  had  beheld  one  rise 
from  the  dead,  was  incapable  of  assisting  her  moth- 
er  to  dress.  The  latter  picked  up  her  gown,  dress- 
ed herself  in  a  moment  without  any  assistance,  and 
knelt  down  once  more  at  the  feet  of  the  sacred 
image. 

It  was  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
those  who  had  attended  the  first  Mass  were  just  com- 
ing out  of  Church.  Lubine's  cry  was  heard  in  the 
street  by  persons  who  were  passing  under  her  win- 
dows. 

"  Poor  girl,"  they  observed,  "  it  is  her  mother 
who  has  just  expired.  It  was  impossible  she  could 
get  through  the  night." 

Several  persons,  either  friends  or  merely  neigh- 
bors, immediately  entered  the  house  to  console  and 
support  Lubine  in  her  indescribable  sorrow.  Among 
them  were  two  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

"  Well,  my  poor  girl,"  they  said,  "  your  excellent 
mother  is  then  dead !  You  will,  however,  see  her 
again  in  heaven." 

They  then  approached  the  young  woman,  whom 
they  found  leaning  against  the  half-opened  door, 
with  a  countenance  expressive  of  great  consterna- 
tion. 

Lubine  could  scarcely  make  them  any  reply. 
*  My  mother  has  risen  from  the  dead,"  said  she, 
with  a  voice  stifled  with  such  strong  emotion,  that 
she  could  not  bear  it  without  fainting. 

"  She  is  raving,"  thought  the  Sisters,  as  they  en- 
tered the  apartment,  followed  by  some  persons  who 
bad  ascended  the  staircase  with  them. 

What  Lubine  had  said  was,  however,  true.  Mme. 
Rizan  had  quitted  her  bed.  She  was  dressed  and 


404  °tfR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

was  praying,  prostrate  before  the  image  of  Mar} 
She  rose  and  said : 

"  I  am  cured  !  Let  us  offer  up  a  thanksgiving  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  Let  all  kneel  down." 

The  news  of  this  extraordinary  cure  spread  with 
the  rapidity  of  lightning  through  the  town  of  Nay 
All  that  and  the  following  day,  the  house  was 
crowded  with  people.  The  throng,  in  the  highest 
degree  of  emotion  and  recollectedness,  pressed  into 
the  room,  through  which  a  ray  of  the  omnipotent 
goodness  of  God  had  passed.  Every  one  wished 
to  see  Mme.  Rizan,  to  touch  her  body  which  had 
been  restored  to  life,  to  convince  himself  by  the 
evidence  of  his  own  eyes,  and  to  engrave  on  his 
memory  all  the  details  of  this  supernatural  drama. 

Doctor  Subervielle  acknowledged,  without  any 
hesitation,  the  divine  and  supernatural  character  of 
this  extraordinary  cure. 

At  Bordeaux,  in  the  meanwhile,  M.  Romain 
Rizan,  reduced  to  despair,  was  expecting,  in  an 
agony  of  mind,  the  fatal  missive  which  was  to  an- 
nounce to  him  the  death  of  his  mother. 

It  was  a  terrible  blow  for  him  when  one  morning 
a  letter  reached  him  by  post,  which  was  directed 
in  the  well-known  handwriting  of  the  Abb€  Du- 
pont. 

"  I  have  lost  my  poor  mother !"  he  observed  to  a 
friend  who  had  come  to  pay  him  a  visit. 

He  burst  into  tears,  and  had  not  the  courage  tc 
tear  open  the  envelope. 

"  Do  not  give  way  to  weakness  in  your  misfor- 
tune ;  have  faith,"  said  his  friend  to  him. 

He  at  length  broke  the  seal.  The  first  words 
which  struck  his  eyes  were  the  following:  "  Deo 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDES. 


405 


gratias,  Alhhdia.  Rejoice,  my  dear  friend.  Your 
mother  is  cured,  completely  cured.  It  is  the  Blessed 
Virgin  who  has  restored  her  miraculously  to 
health."  The  Abbe  Dupont  proceeded  in  his  let- 
ter to  relate  in  what  indisputably  divine  a  manner 
Mme.  Rizan  had  found,  at  the  end  of  her  agony, 
Life  in  the  place  of  death. 

We  may  easily  fancy  the  joy  of  the  son  and  of 
his  friend. 

This  friend  was  employed  in  a  printing  establish- 
ment  at  Bordeaux,  where  the  Messager  Catholique 
was  published. 

"  Give  me  that  letter,"  he  said  to  Remain  Rizan  , 
"  the  works  of  God  ought  to  be  known  and  Our 
Lady  of  Lourdes  glorified." 

Half  willingly  and  half  reluctantly,  Remain  con- 
hded  the  letter  to  his  friend.  It  was  published  in 
the  Messager  Catholique  a  few  days  afterwards. 

The  happy  son  returned  almost  immediately  to 
Nay.     On  the  arrival  of  the  diligence,  a  woman  was 
waiting  for  him.     She  ran  to  him  briskly,  when  h 
got  out  of  the  carriage  and  rushed  into  his  arms 
weeping  with  tenderness  and  joy. 

It  was  his  mother. 

Ten  years  afterwards,  the  author  oi  this  work, 
m  quest  of  all  the  details  of  the  truth,  went  himself 
— in  order  to  collect  materials  for  this  history — to 
re-open  the  investigation  which  had  long  before 
been  made  by  the  Episcopal  Commission.  He  paid 
a  visit  to  Mme.  Rizan,  whose  perfect  health  and 
green  old  age  excited  his  admiration.  Although 
she  has  reached  her  seventy-first  year,  she  has  none 
of  the  infirmities  which  advanced  age  usually  brings 
in  its  train.  Not  a  trace  remains  of  so  much  suffer- 


406  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ing.  All  those  who  had  known  her  former)./,  and 
whose  testimony  we  heard,  had  not  recovered  from 
their  astonishment  at  so  miraculous  an  event. 

We  desired  to  see  Doctor  Soubervielle.  He  had 
been  dead  several  years. 

"  But,"  we  observed  to  an  ecclesiastic  cf  Nay 
who  acted  as  our  guide,  "  Madame  Rizan  was,  if  I 
am  not  mistaken,  visited  by  another  medical  man 
of  the  place,  Doctor  Talamon  ?" 

"  He  is  a  very  distinguished  man,"  answered  our 
companion.  "  He  was  in  the  habit  of  going  con- 
stantly to  the  house  of  Madame  Rizan,  not  in  his 
medical  capacity,  but  as  her  friend  and  neighbor. 
Now,  immediately  after  the  miraculous  cure,  he 
ceased  to  visit  her,  and  did  not  make  his  re-appear- 
ance at  her  house  until  nine  or  ten  months  after- 
wards." 

"  Perhaps,"  we  rejoined,  "  he  wished  to  avoid 
being  interrogated  on  the  subject,  and  having  to 
explain  his  own  views  on  the  extraordinary  event, 
which  was  no  doubt  somewhat  opposed  to  his  prin- 
ciples of  medical  philosophy." 

"  I  do  not  know  how  that  was." 

*'  No  matter,  I  should  like  to  see  him." 

We  knocked  at  his  door. 

Doctor  Talamon  is  a  tall  and  handsome  old  man, 
with  an  intelligent  and  expressive  countenance.  A 
remark;  ble  brow,  a  crown  of  white  hair,  a  glance 
indicative  of  very  decided  opinions,  a  mouth  capa- 
ole  of  varied  expression,  on  which  the  smile  of  scep- 
ticism often  plays :  such  are  the  principal  features 
you  would  observe  on  approaching  him  for  the  first 
time. 

We  explained  to  him  the  object  of  our  visit 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 


407 


•*  It  is  a  long  time  since  all  that  happened,"  he  ob- 
served to  us.  "  At  a  distance  of  ten  or  twelve 
years  my  memory  has  but  a  very  dim  recollection 
of  the  subject  of  your  conversation,  to  say  nothing 
of  my  not  having  actually  witnessed  it  myself.  I 
did  not  see  Mme.  Rizan  for  several  months  after- 
wards, and  I  know  not  in  what  state,  by  what 
igents,  or  in  what  degree  of  slowness  or  rapidity 
her  cure  was  effected." 

"  What,  then,  sir,  had  you  not  the  curiosity  to 
verify,  in  your  individual  capacity,  the  extraordi- 
nary fact  which  you  must  have  immediately  learn- 
ed from  public  rumor,  which  was  widely  spread  in 
this  place?" 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  sir,"  he  replied,  directing 
his  answer  to  me,  "  1  am  an  old  physician.  I  know 
that  the  laws  of  nature  are  never  reversed  ;  and,  to 
tell  you  the  honest  truth,  I  am  no  believer  in  all 
these  miracles." 

"  Ah  !  Doctor,  you  sin  against  the  faith,"  exclaim- 
ed the  Abbe  who  had  introduced  me. 

"  And  I,  Doctor,  do  not  accuse  you  of  sinning 
against  the  faith,  but  I  accuse  you  of  sinning  against 
the  particular  science  which  you  profess ;  that  of 
medicine." 

"  How  and  in  what  ?" 

"  Medicine  is  not  a  speculative  science,  it  is  an 
experimental  science.  Experiment  is  its  law.  The 
observation  of  facts  is  its  first  and  fundamental  prin- 
ciple. If  you  had  been  told  that  Mme.  Rizan  had 
been  cured  in  this  manner  by  rubbing  herself  with 
an  infusion  of  such  or  such  a  plant  recently  discov- 
eiea  in  the  mountains,  you  certainly  would  not 
have  failed  in  going  to  establish  the  truth  or  other 


408  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 

wise  of  the  cure.  You  would  have  examined  the 
plant,  and  have  recorded  a  discovery  which  would 
perhaps  have  appeared  to  you  of  not  less  import- 
ance than  that  of  quinine  in  the  last  century.  But, 
in  this  case,  a  water,  which  had  miraculously  gush- 
ed forth,  was  spoken  of,  and  you  did  not  take  the 
trouble  of  going  to  see  it.  Forgetting  that  you 
were  a  physician,  or  in  other  words,  a  humble  ob- 
server of  facts,  you  have  refused  to  bestow  on  it 
even  a  passing  glance,  like  those  academies  of 
science  which  rejected  steam  without  condescend, 
ing  to  investigate  its  claims,  and  which  proscribed 
quinine  in  the  name  of  I  know  not  what  pretended 
medical  principles.  In  medicine,  when  a  fact  pre- 
sents itself  which  contradicts  an  established  princi- 
ple, it  simply  proves  that  the  principle  is  false. 
Experiment  is  the  supreme  judge.  And  here,  Doc- 
tor, allow  me  to  point  out  to  you  that  if  you  had 
not  had  some  vague  consciousness  of  the  truth  of 
what  I  am  now  telling  you,  you  would  not  have 
hesitated  in  going  to  ascertain  the  truth,  and  you 
would  have  given  yourself  the  pleasure  of  brand- 
ing as  an  imposture  a  Miracle  which  was  exciting 
the  whole  country.  But  this  would  have  exposed 
you  to  the  necessity  of  surrendering  at  discretion, 
and  you  have  acted  like  men  attached  to  a  particu- 
lar party,  who  will  not  hear  the  arguments  of  their 
opponents.  You  have  listened  to  your  philosophi- 
cal prejudices  and  you  have  disobeyed  the  first  law 
of  medicine,  which  is  to  face  the  study  of  facts — no 
matter  of  what  nature — in  order  to  derive  instruc- 
tion from  them.  I  allow  myself,  Doctor,  more  free* 
dom  in  saying  these  things  to  you,  because  I  ana 
aware  of  your  great  merit,  and  I  am  not  ignorant 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


409 


that  your  very  superior  intellect  is  capable  of  listen- 
ing to  truth.  Many  medical  men  refuse  to  certify 
facts  of  this  nature  from  human  respect,  not  daring 
to  biave  either  the  displeasure  of  the  Faculty  or 
the  railleries  of  their  confreres.  As  to  you,  Doctor, 
if  your  philosophy  has  deceived  you,  the  fear  of 
man  has  had  nothing  to  do  with  your  keeping 
aloof  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  he  said.  "  But,  perhaps,  placing 
myself  in  the  point  of  view  you  have  indicated,  1 
shouM  have  done  better  to  have  examined  the  mat- 
ter in  question." 

V. 

A  VERY  long  time  before  these  events  occurred  at 
Lourdes,  and  before  Bernadette  had  made  her  ap- 
pearance in  the  world — in  1843,  m  the  course  of  the 
month  of  April,  a  highly  honorable  family  of  Tartas 
in  the  Landes,  was  in  a  state  of  serious  uneasiness-. 
About  a  year  previously,  Mile.  Ad&le  de  Chanton 
had  espoused  M.  Moreau  de  Sazenay,  and  was  now 
approaching  the  term  of  her  pregnancy. 

The  crisis  of  a  first  maternity  is  always  alarming. 
The  medical  men,  summoned  in  haste  on  the  ap- 
pearance of  preliminary  symptoms,  declared  that 
child-birth  would  be  difficult,  and  they  did  not  con- 
ceal their  opinion  that  it  might  be  attended  with 
some  danger. 

There  is  no  one  who  does  not  know  or  does  not 
understand  the  cruel  anxiety  of  situations  of  this 
nature.  The  most  poignant  anguish  is  not  for  the 
poor  wife  who  is  groaning  on  her  bed  of  pain,  and 
who  is  almost  entirely  absorbed  in  her  sense  of  phy- 
18 


4IO  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

sical  suffering.  It  is  for  the  husband,  whose  heart 
at  that  moment  is  a  prey  to  indescribable  tortures. 
They  are  both  of  an  age  when  the  impressions  are 
vivid;  they  have  just  entered  on  a  new  life,  tic 
sweet  life  of  two  ;  they  have  tasted  the  first  joys  of 
a  union  which  God  had  seemed  to  bless  ;  they  have 
passed  some  months  in  discussing  together  the 
hopes  of  the  future ;  they  have,  so  to  say,  sat  them 
down  together  in  happiness,  as  they  might  sit  side 
by  side  in  a  smoothly  gliding  bark.  The  stream  of 
life  lulls  you  to  sleep  and  bears  you  calmly  onward 
between  banks  gay  with  flowers.  And  behold,  all 
at  once,  in  the  midst  of  happiness,  the  threatening 
shadow  of  death  presents  itself.  The  heart  of  the 
husband,  which  expands  itself  with  the  hope  of  the 
babe  so  soon  to  be  born,  finds  itself  suddenly  crush- 
ed with  terror  for  the  wife  who  may  perish.  He 
hears  heart-rending  cries.  How  will  the  crisis 
end  ?  Is  it  joy  that  is  approaching,  or  is  it  misfor- 
tune ?  What  will  issue  from  that  chamber  ?  Will 
it  be  Life  or  will  it  be  Death  ?  What  must  we  send 
for  ?  A  cradle  or  a  coffin  ?  Or,  alas !  horrible  con- 
trast, will  both  one  and  the  other  be  necessary  ?  Or 
worse  still,  may  two  coffins  be  required,  one  for  the 
mother,  the  other  for  the  infant  ? 

Human  science  is  silent  and  dares  not  pronounce. 
Anguish  of  this  nature  is  terrible,  more  especially 
for  those  who  seek  not  their  strength  and  consola- 
tion in  God. 

M.  Moreau,  however,  was  a  Christian.  He 
knew  that  the  thread  of  our  existence  is  in  the 
hands  of  a  supreme  Master,  tc  whom  we  can  al- 
ways appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  doctors  of 
Science.  When  man  has  condemned,  the  King  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  411 

Heaven,  like  the  sovereigns  of  earth,  reserves  to 
Himself  the  right  of  pardoning. 

"The  Blessed  Virgin,"  thought  the  unfortunate 
husband,  "  will,  perhaps,  deign  to  listen  to  my 
prayer." 

On  this  he  addressed  himself  with  confidence  to 
the  Mother  of  Christ. 

The  danger  which  had  at  first  appeared  so  threat- 
ening passed  away  by  degrees,  like  a  black  cloud, 
which,  in  the  highest  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  is 
driven  along  and  dispersed  by  the  blasts  of  wind. 
The  horizon  became  clear  and  serene,  and  ere  long, 
radiant  with  gleams  of  sunshine.  A  little  girl  had 
just  been  born. 

Assuredly,  there  was  nothing  extrordinary  in  this 
deliverance.  However  alarming  the  case  had  ap- 
peared to  M.  Moreau,  the  medical  men  had  never 
actually  despaired  of  a  favorable  result.  It  might, 
therefore,  have  been  owing  to  purely  natural  causes. 
The  heart  of  the  husband  and  father,  however,  felt 
itself  penetrated  with  gratitude  towards  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  His  was  not  one  of  those  souls  which 
struggle  against  the  feeling  of  gratitude,  and  which 
doubt  the  reality  of  a  benefit  received,  in  order  to 
dispense  themselves  from  the  trouble  of  return- 
ing thanks  for  it. 

"  What  name  have  you  fixed  on  for  your  little 
girl?"  was  one  of  the  first  questions  put  to  M 
Moreau. 

"  She  shall  be  called  Marie,"  he  replied. 

44  Marie  ?  But  it  is  one  of  the  commonest  names 
possible  about  here.  All  the  women  of  the  lower 
classes,  all  the  servant-girls  in  the  place  are  called 
Marie.  And,  besides,  Marie.Moreau  is  by  no  means 


412  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8. 

euphonious.     These  two  Ms  and  two  rs  are  msup 
portable." 

A  thousand  reasons  to  the  same  purpose  were 
alleged.  There  was  a  general  outcry  on  the  sub- 
ject. M.  Moreau  de  Sazenay  was  of  an  easy  tern 
per,  very  accessible,  and  habitually  showed  much 
deference  to  the  advice  tendered  him  by  others , 
but  in  this  particular  instance  he  resisted  every- 
thing, supplications  as  well  as  admonitions ;  he 
braved  the  sullenness  of  all  around,  and  adhered 
to  his  resolution  with  extraordinary  tenacity.  He 
remembered  that,  during  his  recent  state  of  alarm, 
he  had  invoked  that  sacred  name,  which  was  no 
other  than  that  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven. 

"  She  shall  be  called  Marie.  I  wish  her  to  have 
the  Blessed  Virgin  as  her  patroness.  I  tell  you  the 
truth,  when  I  say  that  this  name  will  bring  her  hap- 
piness." 

All  around  him  were  astonished  at  his  obstinacy, 
but  he  remained  firm,  as  did  Zacharias  when,  as  we 
are  informed  in  the  Gospel,  he  desired  that  his  son 
might  be  named  John. 

In  vain  was  he  besieged  with  objections  on  all 
sides.  His  inflexible  will  carried  the  day. 

Thus  the  first  born  of  this  family  bore  the  name 
of  Marie. 

Further,  the  father  wished  that  for  three  years 
she  should  be  devoted  to  white,  the  color  of  the 
Virgin. 

This  was  also  done. 

More  than  sixteen  years  had  passed  away  since 
the  events  occurred  which  we  have  narrated.  A  sec- 
ond little  girl  had  been  born,  who  had  received  the 
name  of  Marthe.  Mile.  Marie  Moreau  was  receiv 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKPES. 


413 


ing  her  education  at  the  Convent  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  at  Bordeaux. 

Towards  the  beginning  of  January,  1858,  she 
was  attacked  with  a  complaint  in  her  eyes,  which 
obliged  her  speedily  to  relinquish  her  studies.  She 
supposed  at  first  that  it  was  a  cold,  caught  by  hei 
having  sat  in  a  draught,  and  that  it  would  soon 
pass  away  ;  but  she  was  deceived  in  her  hopes,  and 
eventually  she  fell  into  a  state  which  caused  the 
greatest  uneasiness  to  those  about  her.  The 
medical  men  who  usually  attended  the  establish- 
ment, deemed  it  necessary  to  have  a  consultation 
with  M.  Bermont,  an  eminent  oculist  at  Bor- 
deaux. 

It  was  decided  that  Mile.  Marie  was  suffering 
not  from  a  cold  but  from  amaurosis. 

"  The  case  is  a  very  serious  one,"  observed  M. 
Bermont.  "  One  of  her  eyes  is  gone  and  the  other 
is  in  a  most  critical  state." 

Her  parents  were  immediately  informed  of  her 
state.  Her  mother  hastened  to  Bordeaux  and 
brought  her  daughter  home  with  her,  in  order 
that,  in  the  bosom  of  her  family  and  with  every 
care  lavished  upon  her,  she  might  carry  out  the 
treatment  which  the  oculist  had  prescribed,  if  not 
to  cure  the  eye  which  was  destroyed,  at  least  to 
save  the  one  which  still  remained,  and  which  was 
already  so  severely  affected  as  only  to  perceive 
objects  as  if  enveloped  in  a  confused  mist. 

Medicines  of  different  kin^s,  sea-bathing  and 
everything  i  ecommended  by  science  was  unavail- 
ing. Spring  and  autumn  passed  away  amid  these 
vain  efforts.  Her  deplorable  condition  resisted 
everything,  and  was  slowly  becoming  worse  and 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

worse.  Ccmplete  blindness  was  imminent.  M 
and  Mme.  Moreau  resolved  to  take  their  daughtei 
to  Paris  in  order  to  consult  the  most  eminent  ocu- 
lists of  the  day. 

While  they  wsre  making  hasty  preparations  for 
their  journey,  dreading  that  it  might  be  already  too 
late  to  charm  away  the  terrible  misfortune  which 
threatened  their  child,  the  postman  happened  to 
bring  them  the  weekly  number  of  a  little  journal 
published  at  Bordeaux,  to  which  they  subscribed, 
the  Messager  CatJiolique. 

It  was  about  the  commencement  of  November. 
Curiously  enough,  it  was  the  very  number  of  the 
Messager  CatJiolique  which  contained  the  letter  of 
the  Abb£  Dupont  and  the  account  of  the  miracu- 
lous cure  of  Mme.  Rizan,  of  Nay,  in  consequence 
of  her  having  used  the  water  from  the  Grotto. 

M.  Moreau  opened  it  mechanically,  and  his  glance 
fell  on  that  divine  history.  He  grew  pale  as  he 
read  it. 

Hope  began  to  awake  in  the  soul  of  the  discon- 
solate father,  and  a  ray  of  light  penetrated  his 
mind,  or  rather  his  heart. 

"  There,"  said  he,  "  is  the  gate  at  which  we  must 
knock.  It  is  evident,"  he  added,  with  a  marvelous 
simplicity,  of  which  we  like  to  preserve  the  verbal 
expression,  "  it  is  evident  that  if  the  Blessed  Virgin 
has  appeared  at  Lourdes  she  is  interested  in  operat- 
ing there  miraculous  cures,  in  order  to  establish  and 
prove  the  reality  of  these  Apparitions.  And  this 
is  more  especially  true  at  the  commencement,  so 
long  as  this  event  is  not  yet  universally  accredited. 
Let  us,  then,  lose  no  time.  There,  as  everywhere 
else,  the  first  come  will  be  first  served.  My  deaiest 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDB8.  415 

wife  and  child,  it  is  to  Our  Lady  of  Loardes  that 
we  must  have  recourse." 

The  s/xteen  years  which  had  elapsed  since  the 
birth  of  his  daughter,  had  not,  as  we  see,  rendered 
the  faitli  of  M.  Moreau  lukewarm. 

It  was  determined  to  celebrate  a  Novcwz>  to  which 
the  companions  and  friends  of  the  young  invalid, 
who  resided  in  the  neighborhood,  associated  them- 
selves By  a  providential  coincidence,  one  of  the 
priests  of  the  town  had  in  his  house  at  that  moment 
a  bottle  of  the  water  from  the  Grotto,  so  that  the 
Novena  was  commenced  almost  immediately. 

The  parents — in  case  of  the  cure  being  accom- 
plished— made  a  vow  to  undertake  a  pilgrimage  to 
Lourdes,  and  to  devote  their  daughter,  for  one  year, 
to  white  and  blue,  to  those  colors  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  which  she  had  already  worn  for  the  space 
of  three  years,  when  she  was  quite  a  little  child,  on 
her  first  entry  into  life. 

The  Novena  commenced  on  Monday  evening, 
November  8. 

Must  we  confess  the  truth  !  The  invalid  had  but 
little  faith.  Her  mother  dared  not  hope.  Her 
father  alone  had  that  tranquil  faith  which  the  be- 
nevolent powers  of  heaven  never  resist. 

They  all  joined  in  prayer,  in  the  apartment  of 
M.  Moreau,  before  a  statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
The  mother,  the  young  invalid  and  her  little  sister 
rose  from  their  knees  successively  with  the  inten- 
tion of  leaving  the  room  and  retiring  to  rest,  but 
the  father  still  remained  kneeling. 

He  thought  he  was  alone,  and  he  raised  his  voice 
with  such  fervor  that  its  accent  induced  his  family 
to  remain,  although  on  the  point  of  taking  their 


416  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

departure.  We  have  heard  from  them  these  cir- 
cumstances,  and  even  now  they  cannot  reca.l  this 
solemn  moment  without  quivering  with  emotion. 

"  Blessed  Virgin  !"  exclaimed  the  father ;  "  Most 
Blessed  Virgin,  it  is  thy  duty  to  cure  my  child. 
Yes,  of  a  truth,  it  is  thy  duty.  It  is  for  thee  an  ob- 
ligation, and  thou  canst  not  refuse  me.  Remember, 
then,  O  Mary,  that  it  was  in  spite  of  all,  against 
ine  will  of  all,  that  I  would  choose  thee  to  be  her 
Patroness.  Thou  oughtest  to  remember  what  sti  ug- 
gles  I  had  to  endure  to  give  her  thy  sacred  name. 
Ah  !  Blessed  Virgin,  canst  thou  forget  all  this  ? 
Canst  thou  forget  how,  at  that  time,  I  defended 
thy  name,  thy  power,  thy  glory  against  all  the  pro- 
testations and  vain  reasonings  of  those  who  were 
about  me  ?  Canst  thou  forget  that  I  placed  this 
child  publicly  under  thy  protection,  saying  and 
repeating  to  all  that  this  name,  thy  own  name,  O 
Blessed  Virgin,  would  bring  her  happiness  ?  She 
was  my  child :  I  have  made  her  thine.  Canst  thou 
forget  this  ?  Art  thou  not  thereby  pledged  to  as- 
sist me,  O  Blessed  Virgin  ?  Is  not  thy  honor  pledg- 
ed— now  that  I  am  wretched,  now  that  we  pray 
unto  thee  for  our  child,  for  thine — to  come  to  our 
assistance  and  to  cure  her  malady  ?  Wilt  thou  per- 
mit her  to  become  blind  after  I  have  shown  so  great 
faith  in  thee  ?  No  !  No  !  That  is  impossible,  and 
thou  wilt  heal  her." 

Such  were  the  feelings  which  the  unhappy  father 
gave  vent  to  in  loud  tones,  appealing  to  the  heart 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  making  his  demand,  so  to 
say,  in  due  form  of  law,  and  citing  her  to  pay  her 
debt  of  gratitude. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  at  m^ht. 


01772  LADY   OF  LOURDE8.  385 

Master?  Did  the  Baron  receive  some  new  telegram 
couched  in  still  more  alarming  language  than  the 
other  two  ?  We  cannot  tell.  One  thing  is  certain, 
that  on  the  third  of  October,  owing  to  some  cause 
unknown,  M.  Massy  became  as  supple  as  a  reed 
trampled  under  the  foot  of  a  passer-by,  and  his 
arrogant  stiffness  seemed  to  give  way  to  a  sudden 
and  complete  prostration. 

The  next  day,  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor,  he 
issued  an  order  to  the  Mayor  of  Lourdes  to  rescind 
the  Decree  publicly,  and  to  have  the  posts  and  bar- 
riers removed  by  Jacomet. 

VII. 

M.  LACADij  did  not  share  in  the  hesitation  of  M. 
Massy.  A  decision  of  this  nature  relieved  him  from 
the  heavy  onus  which  his  complex  desire  of  steer- 
ing cautiously  between  the  Prefect  and  the  masses, 
the  powers  of  heaven  and  those  of  man,  had  im- 
posed upon  him.  By  an  illusion  not  uncommon  in 
undecided  characters,  he  imagined  that  he  had  al- 
ways sided  with  the  prevailing  party,  and  he  drew 
up  a  proclamation  to  that  effect. 

"  Inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Lourdes,  the  day 
we  have  so  longed  for  has  at  length  arrived ;  we 
have  gained  it  by  our  wisdom,  our  perseverance, 
our  faith  and  by  our  courage." 

Such  was  the  import  and  tone  of  his  proclamation, 
of  which,  unfortunately,  the  text  has  not  reached  us. 

The  proclamation  was  read  with  the  sound  01 
drums  and  trumpets  in  every  quarter  of  the  town. 
At  the  same  time  the  following  placard  was  posted 
up  on  all  the  walls : 
17 


386  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDEB. 

THE  MAYOR  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  LOURDES, 
Considering  the  instructions,  addressed  to  him, 

DECREES  : 

The  decree  issued  by  him  June  8th,  1858,  is  re. 
yoked. 

Done  at  Lourdes,  in  the  Hotel  of  the  Mayoralty 
October  5th,  1858.  A.  LACAD£,  Mayor 

Dunng  this  time,  Jacomet  and  the  Sergents  dt 
Ville  repared  to  the  Grotto  to  remove  the  barriers 
and  posts. 

The  crowd  had  already  arrived  there,  and  was 
visibly  increasing.  Some  were  praying  on  their 
knees  and,  striving  to  prevent  themselves  from  being 
distracted  by  the  external  noises,  thanked  God  for 
having  brought  to  a  close  the  scandal  and  persecu- 
tion which  had  prevailed.  Others  remained  stand- 
ing, talking  in  low  tones  and  waiting,  not  without 
emotion,  to  see  what  was  about  to  occur.  Women 
in  great  number  were  telling  their  beads.  Many 
held  a  flask  in  their  hands,  wishing  to  fill  it  at  the 
very  spot  whence  the  Spring  was  gushing  forth. 
Flowers  were  thrown  over  the  barriers  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  Grotto.  As  to  the  barriers  them- 
selves, no  one  touched  them.  Those  who  had 
erected  them  publicly,  in  opposition  to  the  power 
of  God,  must  come  and  remove  them  publicly,  in 
deference  to  the  will  of  a  man. 

Jacomet  arrived.  Although,  in  spite  of  himself, 
he  betrayed  a  certain  degree  of  embarrassment  and 
excitement  of  manner,  and  his  deep  humiliation 
might  be  guessed  from  the  pallor  of  his  counte- 
nance, he  did  not  present,  as  was  generally  expect 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  387 

ed,  the  sad  aspect  of  one  who  had  been  vanquished 
in  the  struggle.  Escorted  by  his  subordinates,  fur- 
nished with  axes  and  mattocks,  he  advanced  boldly 
towards  the  scene  of  action.  With  an  affectation 
which  appeared  singular  under  the  circumstances, 
he  wore  the  official  costume  appropriated  to  state 
occasions.  His  broad  tricolored  scarf  girded  his 
loins  and  floated  over  his  full-dress  sword.  He 
passed  through  the  crowd  and  stepped  close  up  to 
the  barriers.  A  vague  tumultuous  noise,  a  low 
murmur,  and  a  few  solitary  cries  proceeded  from 
the  multitude.  The  Commissary  mounted  on  a 
fragment  of  rock  and  made  a  gesture  that  he  wish- 
ed to  say  a  few  words.  Every  one  listened  to  him. 
"  My  Friends,  it  is  these  barners,  they  say,  which, 
to  my  great  regret,  the  municipality  erected  in 
obedience  to  the  orders  they  received,  which  are 
now  about  to  be  demolished.  Who  has  suffered 
more  than  myself  from  this  obstacle  opposed  to 
your  piety?  I  am  a  religious  man  myself,  and  I 
share  your  faith.  But  a  functionary,  like  a  soldier, 
has  but  one  watchword,  which  is  the  duty — often  a 
very  painful  one — of  obedience.  The  responsibility 
does  not  rest  with  him.  Well,  my  friends,  when  1 
witnessed  your  admirable  calmness,  your  respect 
for  power,  and  your  persevering  faith,  I  notified  it 
to  the  superior  authorities.  I  pleaded  your  cause, 
my  friends.  I  said, '  Why  shouldthese  harmless  peo- 
ple be  hindered  from  praying  at  the  Grotto,  and 
from  drinking  at  the  Spring  ?'  In  consequence  of 
this,  every  prohibition  has  been  removed,  and  the 
Prefect  and  myself  have  resolved  to  demolish  for 
ever  these  barriers  which  were  so  annoying  to  you 
and  still  more  so  to  myself. ' 


388  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDEB, 

The  crowd  maintained  a  cold  silence.  Som« 
young  men  whispered  together  and  laughed.  Jaco- 
met  was  visibly  discomposed  at  the  failure  of  his 
oration.  He  ordered  his  subordinates  to  remove  the 
palings.  It  was  done  with  considerable  prompti- 
tude. A  heap  was  made  of  the  boards  and  debris 
near  the  Grotto,  and  the  Police  carried  it  away  as 
soon  as  it  was  dark. 

The  town  of  Lourdes  was  in  a  great  state  of 
emotion.  During  the  afternoon,  the  crowd  kept 
going  to  and  fro  on  the  road  leading  to  the  Grotto. 
The  faithful,  in  countless  throngs,  knelt  devoutly 
before  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  They  sang  can- 
ticles, and  recited  the  litanies  of  the  Virgin.  Virg* 
potens,  ora  pro  nobis.  They  quenched  their  thirst 
at  the  Spring.  The  believers  were  free,  God  had 
achieved  the  victory. 


NINTH  BOOK. 
I. 

IN  consequence  ol  the  events  we  have  already 
narrated,  the  prolonged  sojourn  of  Baron 
Massy  in  that  part  of  the  country  was  an  utter  im- 
possibility. The  Emperor  lost  no  time  in  transfer, 
ring  him  to  the  first  prefecture  which  became  va- 
cant in  the  Empire.  By  a  singular  coincidence 
his  new  prefecture  was  that  of  Grenoble.  The 
Baron  left  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  behind  him,  sole- 
ly, as  it  would  appear,  to  meet  with  Our  Lady  of 
Salette. 

Jacoraet  also  quitted  the  district.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Commissary  of  Police  in  another  depart- 
ment. Replaced  in  his  proper  sphere,  he  con- 
tributed, with  rare  shrewdness,  to  the  discovery  of 
the  roguery  of  some  dangerous  scoundrels  who  had 
foiled  the  efforts  of  his  predecessors,  and  the  most 
active  pursuit  of  the  Parquet.  The  affair  in  ques- 
tion was  an  extensive  robbery — to  the  amount  of 
two  or  three  hundred  thousand  francs — of  funds 
belonging  to  a  railway  company.  This  was  the 
starting-point  of  his  fortune  in  the  Police,  for  which 
he  had  an  unmistakable  vocation.  His  remarkable 
aptitude  for  this  branch  of  the  public  service,  which 

(389) 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDE8. 

was  justly  appreciated  by  his  superiors,  raised  him 
eventually  to  a  very  high  position. 

The  Procureur  Imperial,  M.  Dutour,  was,  ere 
long,  transferred  to  other  duties.  M.  Lacadd  re- 
mained in  his  position  as  Mayor,  and  we  shall  see 
his  shadowy  profile  once  or  twice  more  in  the  last 
pages  of  this  narration. 

Although  Monseigneur  Laurence  had  instituted 
a  Tribunal  of  Investigation  towards  the  end  ot 
July,  it  had  been  his  wish  to  see  the  effervescence 
of  the  public  cool  down  of  its  own  accord,  before 
he  permitted  it  to  enter  on  its  duties.  "  To  wait," 
he  thought, "  could  never  lead  to  compromising  any- 
thing, when  the  question  regarded  the  works  ot 
God,  who  holds  time  in  His  own  hands."  The 
event  had  shown  he  was  right.  After  the  tumul- 
tuous discussions  of  the  French  press,  and  the  vio- 
lent measures  of  Baron  Massy,  the  Grotto  had  be- 
come free  of  access,  and  there  was  no  longer  cause 
for  dreading  the  scandal  of  seeing  the  members  of 
the  Episcopal  Commission  arrested  by  an  agent  of 
Police  on  the  road  to  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle, 
when  repairing  there  to  accomplish  their  work  and 
study,  on  the  very  spot  where  the  Apparition  had 
manifested  herself,  the  traces  of  the  hand  of  God. 

On  the  i /th  of  October,  the  Commissioners  be- 
took themselves  to  Lourdes.  The  youthful  Seer 
was  interrogated  by  them. 

"  Bernadette/'says  the  Secretary,  in  his  official  re- 
port, "  presented  herself  before  us  with  great  mod- 
esty, but  with  remarkable  self-composure.  She  dis- 
played great  calmness  and  absence  of  embarrass- 
ment,  in  the  midst  of  so  numerous  an  assembly,  and 
in  presence  of  distinguished  ecclesiastics  whom  she 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDE8.  391 

had  never  seen  before,  but  whose  mission  had  been 
explained  to  her." 

The  young  girl  recounted  the  Apparitions,  the 
words  of  the  Virgin,  the  order  given  by  Mary  to 
have  a  chapel  built  on  the  very  spot  consecrated  to 
her  worship,  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  Foun- 
tain and  the  name  of  the  "  Immaculate  Conception" 
which  the  Vision  had  given  to  herself.  She  ex- 
plained, with  the  grave  certitude  of  a  witness  sure 
of  the  facts,  and  with  the  humble  candor  of  a  child, 
all  that  was  personal  to  herself  in  this  supernatural 
drama,  which  had  extended  over  nearly  a  whole 
year.  She  replied  to  all  the  questions  put  to  her, 
and  left  no  obscure  doubts  in  the  minds  of  those 
who  interrogated  her,  no  longer  in  the  name  of 
men  such  as  Jacomet,  the  Procureur,  or  of  so  many 
others,  but  in  that  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  eter- 
nal spouse  of  God.  Our  readers  are  already  aware 
of  all  the  facts  to  which  she  bore  testimony,  as  we 
have  explained  those  events,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  occurred,  in  different  portions  of  this  narrative. 

The  Commissioners  visited  the  Rocks  of  Massa- 
bielle,  and  saw  for  themselves  the  enormous  flow 
of  the  divine  Spring.  They  established,  from  the 
unanimous  declaration  of  persons  belonging  to  the 
district,  that  the  Spring  was  not  in  existence  pre- 
ri  lusly  to  its  having  gushed  forth  before  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude,  from  beneath  the  hand  of  the 
youthful  Seer,  when  in  a  state  of  ecstacy. 

At  Lourdes  and  at  places  distant  from  the  town, 
the  Commissioners  investigated  most  minute.y  the 
extraordinary  cures  which  had  been  effected  by  the 
use  of  the  wate  -  of  the  Grotto. 

There  were,  in  this  delicate  inquiry,  two  very  dis. 


392  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

tinct  parts :  the  facts  themselves  and  their  attend 
ant  circumstances  depended  on  human  testimony 
the  examination  into  the  natural   or  supernatural 
character  of  these  facts  depended — at  least  to  a  great 
extent — on  the  verdict  of  medical   science.     The 
method  pursued  by  the  tribunal  of  investigation  waj 
suggested  by  this  double  conception. 

Making  the  tour  of  the  dioceses  of  Tarbes,  Auch 
and  Bayonne,  the  Commissioners  summoned  before 
them  all  those  who  had  been  pointed  out  to  them 
as  having  been  cured  in  so  remarkable  a  manner ; 
they  questioned  them  with  the  utmost  minuteness 
on  all  the  details  of  their  malady,  and  of  their  re- 
storation— whether  sudden  or  gradual — to  health. 
They  employed  men  of  human  science  to  put  to 
them  technical  questions,  which,  perhaps,  would 
never  have  occurred  to  the  minds  of  theologians. 
They  assembled  together,  in  order  to  submit  these 
declarations  to  the  test  of  cross-examination,  the  re- 
latives, friends,  and  neighbors  of  those  who  claimed 
to  have  been  cured,  including  all  the  witnesses  of 
the  different  phases  of  the  event,  those  who  had 
seen  the  invalid,  those  who  had  been  present  at  the 
cure,  etc.,  etc. 

Having  once  arrived  in  this  manner  at  an  absolute 
certainty  relative  to  the  facts  taken  as  a  whole,  and 
in  their  details,  the  Commissioners  submitted  them, 
in  order  to  ascertain  their  value,  to  two  eminent  and 
qualified  physicians,  whom  they  had  admitted  as 
colleagues.  These  physicians  were  Doctor  Verges 
medical  superintendent  of  the  baths  at  Bareges  and 
Fellow-professor  of  the  Faculty  of  Montpellier,  and 
Doctor  Dozons,  who  had  already  studied  several  of 
these  strange  incidents  on  his  own  account. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES, 


393 


Each  medical  man  stated  in  a  separate  report,  his 
opinion  on  the  nature  of  the  cure ;  sometimes  re- 
jecting the  Miracle  to  attribute  the  cessation  of  the 
malady  in  question  to  natural  causes;  sometimes 
declaring  the  fact  to  be  utterly  inexplicable,  except 
by  a  supernatural  action  of  divine  power;  and  last- 
ly, sometimes  not  arriving  at  any  conclusion  and  re- 
maining in  doubt — a  doubt,  more  or  less,  inclining 
to  one  or  other  of  the  above  solutions. 

Furnished  with  this  double  element — the  entire 
knowledge  of  facts  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  conclu- 
sions arrived  at  by  Science  on  the  other — the  Com- 
missioners deliberated  and  submitted  their  judg- 
ment to  the  Bishop,  together  with  all  the  documents 
connected  with  the  case. 

The  Commissioners  had  not  and  could  not  have 
any  preconceived  opinions.  Believing  on  principle 
in  the  Supernatural,  which  is  so  often  met  with  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  they  were  at  the  same  time, 
aware,  that  nothing  tends  so  much  to  discredit  true 
miracles,  proceeding  from  God,  as  false  prodigies 
contrived  by  man.  Equally  indisposed  to  affirm  be- 
forehand or  to  reject  prematurely,  and  being  entirely 
unprejudiced  either  for  or  against  the  Miracle,  they 
confined  their  task  to  that  of  investigation,  and  truth 
was  the  sole  object  of  their  researches.  Appealing 
— in  order  to  throw  light  on  the  various  facts  they 
were  studying — to  every  kind  of  information  and 
every  kind  of  testimony,  they  acted  with  entire  pub- 
licity. They  opened  their  sessions  to  unbelievers, 
as  well  as  to  those  who  believed.  Firmly  resolved 
to  discard  with  relentless  severity  all  that  was  vague 
and  uncertain,  and  to  accept  only  such  facts  as  were 
precise,  well-founded,  and  incontestable,  they  reject 
17* 


394  OUB  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

ed  all  declarations  which  were  grounded  on  mere 
on-dits  and  empty  reports. 

To  every  witness  who  appeared  before  them,  the 
Commissioners  imposed  two  conditions : — the  first, 
only  to  depose  to  what  he  knew  personally  and  had 
seen  with  his  own  eyes;  the  second,  to  pledge  him- 
self to  tell  the  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  by 
the  solemn  formality  of  an  oath. 

With  such  precautions,  and  with  an  organization 
so  prudent  and  wise,  it  was  impossible  for  false  mir- 
acles to  succeed  in  deceiving,  even  for  a  moment, 
the  judgment  of  the  Commissioners.  This  was, 
besides,  still  more  impossible,  in  the  midst  of  so 
many  hostile  intellects  stirred  up  against  the  Super- 
natural, and  deeply  interested  in  combating  and 
upsetting  every  error,  every  exaggeration,  every 
doubtful  assertion,  and  every  miraculous  fact  which 
did  not  admit  of  the  clearest  demonstration. 

If  then,  true  miracles,  incompletely  established, 
were  destined  not  to  receive  the  sanction  of  the 
Commission  of  Inquiry,  it  was  at  least  absolutely 
certain  that  no  lying  wonders  could  maintain  their 
ground  before  the  severity  of  its  examination,  or 
take  their  place,  in  its  judgment,  among  the  ad- 
mirable facts  of  the  divine  and  supernatural  order. 

Whoever,  wishing  to  contest  the  truth  of  such  or 
such  a  miracle,  could  produce  not  merely  vague 
general  theories,  but  precise  articulations  and  a  per. 
sonal  knowledge  of  facts,  could  publicly  demand  the 
right  of  presenting  himself.  Not  to  do  so,  was  to 
submit  to  the  sentence  pronounced,  and  to  confess 
that  he  had  nothing  formal  or  particular  to  allege, 
and  was  unable  to  furnish  any  counter-evidence. 
Forbearance  evidently  implied  this.  It  is  not  when 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDB8.  395 

parties  are  Heated  with  passion  and  the  ardor  of  a 
long  struggle,  that  they  suffer  judgment  to  go  by 
default.  To  refuse  the  combat  is  to  acknowledge  a 
defeat. 


III. 


DURING  several  months  the  Episcopal  Commis- 
sioners repaired  to  the  houses  of  those  whom  pub 
lie  notoriety  and  previous  information  designated  to 
them  as  having  been  the  objects  of  one  of  those  re- 
markable cures,  the  character  of  which  it  rested 
with  them  to  determine. 

The  truth  of  a  great  number  of  Miracles  was 
established.  Among  these,  many  have  already 
found  a  place  in  the  course  of  this  narration.  Two 
of  them  had  occurred  quite  recently,  shortly  after 
the  withdrawal  of  the  Prefect's  decree  and  the  re- 
opening of  the  Grotto.  One  took  place  at  Nay, 
the  other  at  Tarbes.  Although  the  two  Christian 
women  who  had  been  the  objects  of  heavenly  favor 
were  unknown  to  each  other,  a  mysterious  link 
seemed  to  unite  these  events.  Let  us  narrate  them, 
one  after  the  other,  just  as  we  investigated  them 
ourselves  and  committed  them  to  writing  under  the 
impression  of  the  living  testimonies  we  had  our- 
selves heard. 

In  the  town  of  Nay — the  same  in  which,  some 
months  previously,  young  Henry  Busquet  had  been 
miraculously  cured — a  female,  already  considerably 
advanced  in  years,  Mme.  Rizan,  a  widow,  was  on 
the  point  of  death.  Her  life,  at  least  for  the  last 
twenty-four  or  twenty-five  years,  had  been  one  of 
perpetual  pain.  Attacked  in  1832  by  the  cholera, 


396  OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDES. 

she  had  remained  almost  entirely  paralyzed  in  tier 
left  side :  she  was  quite  lame,  and  could  only  move 
a  few  steps  in  the  interior  of  her  house  by  support- 
ing herself  against  the  walls  or  different  articles  of 
furniture.  Rarely,  twice  or  three  times  a  year,  in 
the  height  of  summer,  was  she  able — assisted  and 
almost  carried  by  strangers — to  repair  to  the  parist 
church  of  Nay,  near  as  it  was  to  her  residence,  to 
hear  Mass.  It  was  impossible  for  her,  without  as- 
sistance from  others,  either  to  kneel  down  or  to  nse 
from  a  kneeling  posture.  One  of  her  hands  was 
entirely  atrophied.  Her  general  health  had  suf- 
fered, not  less  than  her  limbs,  from  this  terrible 
scourge.  She  was  subject  to  continual  vomitings 
of  blood.  Her  stomach  was  unable  to  bear  any 
solid  food.  A  little  meat  gravy,  light  soups  and 
coffee  had,  however,  sufficed,  in  her  deplorable  con- 
dition, to  sustain  in  her  the  flickering  flame  of  life — 
a  flame  ever  weak,  ever  on  the  point  of  being  ex- 
tinguished on  its  mysterious  hearth,  and  powerless 
to  convey  sufficient  warmth  to  her  wretched  body, 
which  was  often  attacked  with  icy  trembling  fits. 
The  poor  woman  was  always  cold.  Even  in  the 
midst  of  the  heats  of  July  and  August  she  always 
begged  to  see  the  fire  blazing  on  the  hearth,  anr1 
requested  to  have  her  old  invalid  -  chair  wheeled 
close  to  the  mantel-piece. 

For  the  last  sixteen  or  eighteen  months  her  state 
had  changed  considerably  for  the  worse,  and  the 
paralysis  of  her  left  side  had  become  total ;  the 
same  infirmity  commenced  to  attack  her  right  leg. 
Her  atrophied  limbs  were  tumefied  beyond  meas- 
ure, as  is  sometimes  the  case  with  those  of  dropsical 
patients. 


OUR  LADT  OF  LOUEDES. 


397 


Mme.  Rizan  had  been  obliged  to  quit  her  arm- 
chair  for  her  bed.  She  could  not  move  in  it,  so 
great  was  her  state  of  infirmity,  and  those  about 
her  were  obliged  to  turn  her  from  time  to  time 
and  to  change  her  position.  She  was  nothing  more 
than  a  helpless  mass.  Her  sense  of  feeling  was 
gone  as  well  as  her  power  of  moving.  "  Where 
are  my  legs?"  she  used  to  say  sometimes  when  any 
one  came  to  move  her  from  one  part  of  her  bed  to 
another. 

Her  limbs  were,  so  to  say,  drawn  up  together  and 
bent  back  on  themselves.  She  kept  constantly  lying 
on  her  side  in  the  form  of  a  Z. 

Two  medical  men  had  succcessively  attended 
her.  Doctor  Talamon  had  long  since  regarded  her 
as  incurable,  and,  if  he  continued  to  visit  her  fre- 
quently, it  was  only  as  a  friend.  He  refused  to  pre- 
scribe any  remedies  for  her,  alleging  that  any  treat- 
ment, no  matter  of  what  nature,  would  be  fatally 
injurious,  and  that  drugs  and  medicines  could  only 
weaken  the  poor  invalid  and  exhaust  still  more  her 
system,  which  had  already  been  so  terribly  attack- 
ed. Doctor  Subervielle,  at  the  entreaty  of  Mme. 
Rizan,  had  prescribed  some  remedies,  which  were 
.speedily  acknowledged  to  be  useless,  and  had  also 
given  up  all  hope. 

If  her  paralyzed  limbs  had  become  insensible  the 
sufferings  expenenced  by  this  unfortunate  woman 
elsewhere,  sometimes  in  her  stomach  and  sometimes 
in  her  head,  were  of  the  most  fearful  description. 
Owing  to  the  fact  of  her  being  obliged  to  remain 
always  in  one  position,  her  poor  body  was  afflicted 
with  two  painful  sores — one  in  the  hollow  of  her 
chest  and  the  other  in  her  back.  On  her  side,  in 


398  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

several  places,  her  skin  was  worn  away  by  long 
contact  with  the  bed-clothes,  and  exposed  her 
flesh  denuded  and  bleeding.  Her  death  was  at 
hand. 

Mme.  Rizan  had  two  children.  Her  daughter, 
called  Lubine,  lived  with  her  and  attended  her 
with  unceasing  devotedness.  Her  son,  M.  Romain 
Rizan,  had  a  situation  in  a  commercial  house  at 
Bordeaux. 

When  the  last  hope  was  given  up  and  Doctor 
Subervielle  had  declared  that  the  poor  sick  woman 
had  scarcely  a  few  days  to  live,  M.  Romain  Rizan 
was  sent  for  in  all  haste.  He  came,  embraced  his 
mother,  and  received  her  blessing  and  last  farewell. 
Then,  being  obliged  to  start  on  his  return  imme- 
diately, in  consequence  of  an  order  which  recalled 
him,  torn  from  the  foot  of  this  death-bed  by  the 
cruel  tyranny  of  business,  he  left  his  mother  with 
the  painful  certainty  of  seeing  her  no  more. 

The  dying  woman  had  been  administered.  Her 
death-agony  was  prolonged  amid  intolerable  suf- 
ferings. 

"  O  God  !"  she  often  exclaimed,  "  be  pleased  to 
put  an  end  to  this  intolerable  pain.  Grant  that  I 
may  either  recover  or  die  !" 

She  sent  to  beg  the  Sisters  of  the  Cross  at  Izon — 
Ker  sister-in-law  being  their  Superior — to  make  a 
Ncvena  to  the  most  Blessed  Virgin  in  order  to 
obtain  from  her  power,  either  her  recovery  or 
death.  She  also  expressed  a  wish  to  drink  some 
of  the  water  of  the  Grotto.  One  of  her  neighbors, 
Mme.  Nessans,  who  happened  to  be  going  to 
Lourdes,  promised  to  bring  her  some  of  it  on  heT 
return. 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOURDEB.  399 

For  some  time  past  she  had  been  watched  day 
and  night.  On  Saturday,  October  16,  a  violent 
crisis  announced  the  inevitable  approach  of  her  last 
moments.  She  was  continually  spitting  blood.  A 
livid  tint  spread  over  her  emaciated  countenance. 
Her  eyes  became  glassy.  The  poor  invalid  seldom 
spoke  except  to  complain  of  the  acute  pain  she  suf- 
fered. "  Lord  !"  she  often  repeated,  "  Lord  Jesus 
how  I  suffer !  Can  I  not  then  die  ?" 

"  Her  wish  will  be  very  shortly  granted,"  observ- 
ed Doctor  Subervielle,  as  he  left  her.  "  She  will 
die  in  the  course  of  the  night,  or,  at  latest,  towards 
daybreak.  There  is  no  more  oil  in  the  lamp." 

From  time  to  time  the  door  of  the  sick-room  was 
opened  to  admit  friends,  neighbors  and  priests — 
among  the  latter  the  Abbe  Dupont  and  the  Abbd 
Sanareus,  vicaire  of  Nay — who  entered  silently,  and 
asked,  in  a  low  voice,  if  the  dying  woman  still 
breathed. 

At  night,  when  he  left  her,  the  Abb6  Andre  Du- 
pont, her  consoler  and  friend,  could  not  restrain  his 
tears. 

"  Before  to-morrow  she  will  be  dead,"  said  he, 
"  and  I  shall  only  see  her  again  in  Paradise." 

Night  had  come,  and,  by  degrees,  the  house  had 
been  reduced  to  a  state  of  solitude.  On  her  knees, 
before  a  statue  of  the  Virgin,  Lubine  was  praying, 
all  earthly  hope  having  vanished.  The  deepest 
silence  reigned  around,  only  disturbed  by  the  pain- 
ful breathing  of  the  sick  woman.  It  was  nearly 
midnight. 

"  Lubine !"  exclaimed  the  dying  mother. 

Lubine  rose  hastily  from  her  knees  and  approach 
ed  the  bed. 


OUR  ^ADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

"  What  do  you  wish,  dearest  mother  ?"  she  said, 
taking  her  by  the  hand. 

"  My  dear  child,"  said  the  dying  mother  to  her 
m  a  strange  tone  of  voice,  which  seemed  to  pro- 
ceed, as  it  were,  from  a  heavy  dream,  "  go  to  the 
house  of  our  friend  Mme.  Nessans,  who  was  tc 
have  returned  to-night  Irom  Lourdes.  Beg  her  to 
give  you  a  glass  of  the  water  from  the  Grotto.  It 
is  this  water  which  is  to  cure  me.  The  Blessed 
Virgin  so  wills  it." 

"  My  dearest  mother,"  replied  Lubme,  it  is  now 
too  late  to  go  there.  "  I  cannot  leave  you  alone, 
and  every  one  at  Mme.  Nessans's  must  be  in  bed  by 
this  time.  To-morrow  morning  I  will  go  for  it  as 
early  as  possible." 

"  Well,  let  us  wait,  then." 

The  sick  mother  relapsed  into  silence. 

The  night  passed  away  long  and  weary. 

At  length  daybreak  was  announced  by  the  joyous 
Sunday  bells.  The  morning  Angelus  bore  upwards 
to  Mary  the  prayers  of  earth,  and  celebrated  the 
eternal  memory  of  her  omnipotent  maternity.  Lu- 
bine  hastened  to  the  house  of  Mme.  Nessans,  and 
soon  returned,  bringing  with  her  a  bottle  of  the 
water  from  the  Grotto. 

"  Here,  dearest  mother,  drink !  and  may  the 
Blessed  Virgin  come  to  your  assistance." 

Mme.  Rizan  raised  the  glass  to  her  lips  and 
swallowed  a  few  mouthfuis. 

"  O  my  child,  my  child,  it  is  Life  that  I  am  drink- 
ing. There  is  Life  in  this  water.  Bathe  my  face 
with  it.  Bathe  all  my  body  with  it. 

Trembling  from  head  to  foot,  and  almost  beside 
herself  with  emotion,  Lubine  moistened  a  piece  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  433 

ages,  all  ranks  and  all  conditions.  And  by  what 
feeling  are  these  numerous  strangers  urged  to  visit 
the  place  ?  Ah  !  they  come  to  the  Grotto  in  order 
to  pray  and  to  demand  favors  of  one  kind  or  other 
"rom  the  Immaculate  Mary.  They  prove,  by  their 
*ecollected  behaviour,  that  they  are  sensible  as  it 
were  of  a  divine  breath  which  vivifies  this  rock, 
from  henceforth  forever  celebrated.  Souls,  already 
Christian,  have  become  strengthened  in  virtue; 
men  frozen  with  indifference  have  been  brought 
back  to  the  practices  of  religion  ;  obstinate  sinners 
have  been  reconciled  with  God,  after  Our  Lady  of 
Lourdes  had  been  invoked  in  their  favor.  These 
marvels  of  grace,  bearing  the  stamp  of  universal- 
ity and  duration,  can  only  have  God  for  their 
author.  Consequently,  have  they  not  come  for 
the  express  purpose  of  confirming  the  truth  of  the 
Apparition  ? 

If  from  effects  produced  for  the  good  of  souls, 
we  pass  to  those  which  concern  the  health  of  the 
body,  how  many  new  prodigies  have  we  not  to 
recount  ? 

Our  readers  will  not  have  forgotten  the  gushing 
forth  of  the  Spring,  from  which  Bernadette  drank 
and  in  which  she  washed  herself,  in  the  presence 
of  the  assembled  multitude.  It  would  be  super- 
fluous to  repeat  here  the  details. 

Persons  suffering  from  sickness,  [resumes  the 
Bishop,]  tried  the  water  of  the  Grotto,  and  not 
without  success.  Many,  whose  infirmities  had 
resisted  the  most  energetic  treatment,  suddenly 
recovered  their  health.  These  extraordinary  cures 
acquired  immense  notoriety,  and  tneir  fame  soor 
spread  far  and  wide. 

19 


OUB  LADY  OF  LOUKDES. 

TLe  sick  of  all  countries  requested  to  have  some 
of  the  water  of  Massabielle  sent  to  them,  when 
they  were  unable  to  repair  themselves  to  the 
Grotto.  How  many  bowed  down  with  infirmities 
have  been  cured,  how  many  families  consoled  !  If 
we  wished  to  invoke  their  testimony,  innumerable 
voices  would  be  raised  to  proclaim,  in  accents  ol 
gratitude,  the  sovereign  efficacy  of  the  water  of  the 
Grotto.  It  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  enumer- 
ate here  all  the  favors  which  have  been  obtained ; 
but  there  is  one  thing  of  which  we  are  bound  tc 
inform  you,  which  is,  that  the  water  of  Massabielle 
has  cured  many  who  had  been  given  over  and 
pronounced  incurable.  These  cures  have  been 
effected  by  the  use  of  a  water,  which,  according  to 
the  report  of  eminent  Chemists  who  have  subjected 
it  to  a  minute  analysis,  is  destitute  of  any  curative 
properties.  They  have  been  effected  in  some  in- 
stances instantaneously,  in  others  after  the  repeti- 
tion of  the  application  of  this  water  two  or  three 
times,  either  internally  or  externally.  Further, 
these  cures  are  permanent.  What  then  is  the 
power  which  has  produced  them  ?  Is  it  the  power 
of  the  organism  ?  Scientific  men,  when  consulted 
on  the  subject,  have  replied  in  the  negative.  These 
cures  are  then  the  work  of  God.  Now  they  are 
connected  with  the  Apparition ;  she  it  is  who  is 
their  starting  point;  she  it  was  who  inspired  the 
sick  with  confidence ;  consequently  there  is  an  inti- 
mate connection  between  the  cures  and  the  Appa- 
rition; the  Apparition  is  divine,  since  the  cures 
bear  the  seal  of  the  divinity.  From  this  it  follows 
that  the  Apparition  having  styled  herself  the  Im- 
maculate Conception,  it  was  the  Most  Blessed 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8.  435 

Virgin  whom  Bernadette  saw  and  heard  !  Let  us 
then  exclaim  :  The  finger  of  God  is  here !  Digitus 
Dei  est  hie. 

How  can  we  but  admire,  dearly  beloved  Breth- 
ren,  the  economy  of  divine  Providence !  At  the 
end  of  the  year  1854,  the  immortal  Pius  IX.  pro- 
claimed the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 
The  words  of  the  Pontiff  were  re-echoed  in  the 
most  distant  parts  of  the  world;  Catholic  nearts 
thrilled  with  joy,  and  the  glorious  privilege  of 
Mary  was  everywhere  celebrated  with  fetes,  the 
souvenir  of  which  will  remain  forever  engraved  on 
our  memory.  And  behold  about  three  years  after- 
wards, the  Blessed  Virgin,  appearing  to  a  child, 
says  to  her :  /  am  the  Immaculate  Conception — I  de- 
sire that  a  chapel  should  be  erected  here  to  my  honor. 
Does  she  not  appear  to  wish  to  consecrate  by  a 
monument  the  infallible  oracle  of  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter? 

And  where  does  she  desire  that  this  monument 
should  be  erected  ?  It  is  at  the  foot  of  our  Pyre- 
nean  mountains,  a  country  where  numerous  for- 
eigners meet  together,  coming  from  every  part  of 
the  world  in  search  of  health  at  our  warm  baths. 
May  it  not  be  said  that  she  invites  the  faithful  of 
all  nations  to  come  and  honor  her  in  the  new  tem- 
ole  which  shall  be  erected  to  her  ? 

Inhabitants  of  Lourdes,  rejoice !  the  august 
Mary  condescends  to  regard  you  with  her  merciful 
eyes.  It  is  her  will  that  a  sanctuary  should  be  built 
to  her  honor  near  your  town,  in  which  she  will 
abundantly  pour  forth  her  benefactions.  Be  thank 
fill  to  her  for  this  pledge  of  predilection  which  she 
gives  you,  and  since  she  lavishes  on  you  the  tender 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

ness  of  a  mother,  show  yourselves  to  be  her  eta 
voted  children  by  the  imitation  of  her  virtues  and 
your  unshaken  attachment  to  Religion. 

Besides,  it  is  with  pleasure  we  recognize  the 
fact,  that  the  Apparition  has  already  produced 
among  you  abundant  fruits  of  salvation.  Eye  wit- 
nesses of  the  occurrences  at  the  Grotto  and  of  their 
happy  results,  your  confidence  has  been  as  great  as 
your  conviction  has  been  strong.  We  have  ever  ad- 
mired your  prudence,  your  docility  in  following  the 
advice  tendered  by  us  of  submission  to  the  civil 
authorities,  at  a  time  when  for  the  space  of  several 
weeks,  you  were  obliged  to  cease  your  visits  to 
the  Grotto,  and  to  compress,  in  your  own  hearts,  the 
sentiments  inspired  by  the  spectacle  which  had  so  im- 
pressed you  during  the  Quinzaine  of  the  Apparitions. 

And  all  of  you,  whether  Priests  or  Laics,  in  our 
diocese,  open  your  hearts  to  the  influence  of  hope ; 
a  new  era  of  graces  is  commencing  for  you :  you 
are  called  upon  to  reap  your  share  in  the  benefits 
which  are  promised  to  us.  In  your  supplications 
and  canticles,  you  will  henceforth  mingle  the  name 
of  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  with  the  blessed  names  of 
Our  Lady  of  Garaison,  of  Poeylaiin,  of  H£as  and 
of  Pietat. 

From  above   these   sacred   sanctuaries,  the  Im- 
maculate Virgin  will  watch  over  you  and  shield 
you  with  her  tutelary  protection.      Yes,  beloved 
fellow-laborers,  and  beloved  brothers  in  Christ,  if, 
with  our   hearts  full  of  trust,  we  keep  our  eyes 
steadily  fixed  on  that  "  star  of  the  sea,"  we  shall 
without  fear  of  shipwreck,  pass  through  the  tern 
pests  of  life,  and  reach  in  safety  the  haven  of  eter 
nal  felic'ty. 


OUS  LAD7  OP  LOUKDES. 


437 


FOR  THESE  REASONS : 

After  having  conferred  with  our  venerable  Broth- 
ers,  the  Dignitaries,  Canons  and  Chapter  of  out 
Cathedral  Church ; 

The  Holy  Name  of  God  being  duly  invoked; 
taking  for  our  guidance  the  rules  wisely  traced  by 
Benedict  XIV. — in  his  work  on  the  Beatification 
and  Canonization  of  Saints — for  the  discernment  of 
Apparitions  true  or  false  ; 

Seeing  the  favorable  report  which  has  been  pre- 
sented to  us  by  the  Commission  charged  with  ob- 
taining all  information  relative  to  the  Apparition  at 
the  Grotto  of  Lourdes,  and  its  attendant  circum- 
stances ; 

Seeing  the  written  testimony  of  the  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  whom  we  have  consulted  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  numerous  cures  obtained  in  consequence 
of  the  use  of  the  water  of  the  Grotto ; 

Considering,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  fact  of  the 
Apparition  —  viewed  either  with  reference  to  the 
young  girl  who  reported  it,  or  more  especially  with 
reference  to  the  extraordinary  effects  which  it  has 
produced — can  only  be  accounted  for  through  the 
medium  of  a  supernatural  cause  ; 

Considering,  in  the  second  place,  that  this  cause 
can  but  be  divine,  since  the  effects  produced  by  it, 
being,  some,  sensible  signs  of  grace,  as  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners,  others,  deviations  from  the  ordinary 
laws  of  nature,  as  miraculous  cures,  can  o;;.y  be  re- 
ferred to  the  Author  of  Grace  and  to  the  Lord  of 
nature ; 

Considering,  in  short,  that  our  conviction  ij 
strengthened  by  the  vast  and  spontaneous  concourse 


438  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

of  the  faithl  il  at  the  Grotto  —  a  concourse 
has  not  ceased  since  the  first  Apparitions,  having 
for  its  object  to  request  favors,  or  to  return  thanks 
for  those  already  obtained  ; 

In  order  to  respond  to  the  legitimate  impatience 
of  our  Venerable  Chapter,  of  the  clergy,  of  the 
laics  of  our  diocese,  and  of  so  many  pious  souls,  who 
have  long  been  demanding  from  the  ecclesiastical 
Authority  a  decision  which  motives  of  prudence 
have  induced  us  to  defer ; 

Wishing,  also,  to  satisfy  the  pious  wishes  of  many 
of  our  Colleagues  in  the  Episcopacy,  and  of  a 
great  number  of  eminent  personages  strangers  to 
our  diocese  ; 

After  having  invoked  the  enlightenment  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  the  assistance  of  the  Most  Blessed 
Virgin, 

WE    HAVE     DECLARED     AND    DO    DECLARE    AS 
FOLLOWS  : 

Article  i. — We  pronounce  judgment  that  the  IM- 
CACULATE  MARY,  MOTHER  OF  GOD,  really  appear, 
jd  to  Bernadette  Soubirous,  on  the  eleventh  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1858,  and  following  days,  to  the  number  of 
eighteen,  in  the  Grotto  of  Massabielle,  near  the 
town  of  Lourdes ;  that  this  Apparition  is  invested 
with  every  character  of  truth,  and  that  the  faithful 
nave  good  ground  for  believing  it  to  be  certain. 

We  submit,  with  all  humility,  our  judgment  to 
the  judgment  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  to  whom  is 
committed  the  government  of  the  universal  Church. 

Article  2. — We  authorize  the  worship  of  Our  Lady 
of  the  Grotto  of  Lourdes  in  our  diocese  •  but  we 
prohibit  the  publication  of  any  particular  formula 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


439 


of  prayers,  of  any  canticle,  or  of  any  book  of  devo- 
tion bearing  on  this  event,  without  our  approbation 
given  in  writing. 

Article  3. — In  order  to  conform  ourselves  to  the 
will  of  the  Blessed  Virgin — several  times  expressed 
by  the  Apparition  at  that  period — we  propose  to 
proceed  to  the  erection  of  a  sanctuary  on  the  site 
of  the  Grotto,  the  proprietorship  of  which  is  now 
vested  in  the  Bishops  of  Tarbes  for  the  time  being. 

This  edifice,  when  we  take  into  consideration  the 
steep  and  difficult  locality  we  have  to  deal  with, 
will  require  much  labor  and  relatively  a  very  con- 
siderable outlay  of  money.  In  order,  therefore,  to 
realize  our  pious  scheme,  we  shall  need  the  co-ope- 
ration of  the  priests  and  the  faithful  of  our  diocese, 
as  well  as  of  the  priests  and  the  faithful  of  France 
and  of  foreign  countries.  We  appeal  to  their  gener- 
ous hearts,  and  more  especially  to  all  the  pious  per- 
sons of  all  countries,  who  arc  devoted  to  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin 
Mary. 

Article  4. — We  address  ourselves  with  confidence 
to  the  establishments  of  both  sexes,  consecrated 
to  the  education  of  youth,  to  the  Congregations  of 
the  Children  of  Mary,  to  the  confreries  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  to  the  different  pious  Associations,  whe- 
ther in  our  own  diocese  or  in  the  whole  of  France. 

On  the  Sunday  following  its  reception,  this,  our 
pastoral  letter,  shall  be  read  and  published  in  all  the 
parish  churches,  as  also  in  the  chapels  and  oratories 
of  the  seminaries,  colleges  and  hospitals  of  our  dio- 
cese. 

Given  at  Tarbes,  in  our  episcopal  palace,  undef 
our  signature  and  seal  and  the  counter-signature  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

secretary,  on  the  i8th  of  January,  1862,  being 
the  Feast  of  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome. 

tjf  BERTRAND  SEVERE. 

Bishop  of  Tarbes. 
By  order,  FOURCADE,  Canon-Secretary 

VIII. 

IN  the  name  of  the  see,  or,  to  speak  more  cor- 
rectly, in  that  of  the  Church,  Mgr.  Laurence 
bought  from  the  town  of  Lourdes  the  Grotto,  the 
portion  of  land  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  and  the 
entire  group  of  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  M.  La- 
cade  was  ?•>  .._>  or  at  the  time.  He  it  was  who  pro- 
posed to  the  municipal  council,  the  cession  to  the 
Church,  the  Spouse  of  Christ,  of  those  places  now 
for  ever  holy,  where  the  Mother  of  God  had  ap- 
peared. His  signature  was  formally  attached  to 
the  contract  of  sale. 

This  sale  was  authorized  by  M.  Rouland,  as  was 
also  the  construction  of  a  church  in  eternal  memory 
of  the  Apparitions  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  Berna- 
dette  Soubirous,  of  the  issuing  of  the  Spring,  and 
of  the  countless  miracles  which  were  accomplished 
m  order  to  attest  the  reality  of  the  divine  visions. 

While  the  vast  temple  dedicated  to  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  on  the  rugged  rocks  of  MassabieUe 
was  rising  stone  by  stone  from  its  foundations,  Our 
Lady  of  Lourdes  continued  to  pour  out  her  mira- 
cles and  her  benefactions  on  mankind.  At  Paris 
and  Bordeaux,  in  Perigord,  in  Bretagne  and  in 
Anjou,  in  the  most  lonely  country  places,  and  in 
the  very  heart  of  thickly  inhabited  cities,  Our  Ladj 


OUH  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  441 

of  Louides  was  invoked,  and  every  where  Our 
Lady  of  Lourdes  responded  with  undeniable  signs 
of  her  power  and  goodness. 

Let  us  still  narrate  two  of  these  divine  histories 
ere  we  close  our  tale,  and  give  a  tableau  of  the 
present  state  of  things.  The  first  forms  an  episode 
in  the  life  of  the  author  of  this  book  which  will 
never  be  effaced  from  his  memory.  This  episode 
we  subjoin,  just  as  we  wrote  it  nearly  seven  years 
ago. 


,;40  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

»ur  secretary,  on  the  i8th  of  January,  1862,  being 
the  Feast  of  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome. 

^  BERTRAND  SEVERE. 

Bisliop  of  Tarbes. 
By  order,  FOURCADE,  Cation-Secretary 

VIII. 

IN  the  name  of  the  see,  or,  to  speak  more  cor- 
rectly, in  that  of  the  Church,  Mgr.  Laurence 
bought  from  the  town  of  Lourdes  the  Grotto,  the 
portion  of  land  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  and  the 
entire  group  of  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle.  M.  La- 
cade  was  1^  .._) 'or  at  the  time.  He  it  was  who  pro- 
posed to  the  municipal  council,  the  cession  to  the 
Church,  the  Spouse  of  Christ,  of  those  places  now 
for  ever  holy,  where  the  Mother  of  God  had  ap- 
peared. His  signature  was  formally  attached  to 
the  contract  of  sale. 

This  sale  was  authorized  by  M.  Rouland,  as  was 
also  the  construction  of  a  church  in  eternal  memory 
of  the  Apparitions  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  to  Berna- 
dette  Soubirous,  of  the  issuing  of  the  Spring,  and 
of  the  countless  miracles  which  were  accomplished 
in  order  to  attest  the  reality  of  the  divine  visions. 

While  the  vast  temple  dedicated  to  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  on  the  rugged  rocks  of  Massabielle 
was  rising  stone  by  stone  from  its  foundations,  Our 
Lady  of  Lourdes  continued  to  pour  out  her  mira- 
cles and  her  benefactions  on  mankind.  At  Paris 
and  Bordeaux,  in  Pdrigord,  in  Bretagne  and  in 
Anjou,  in  the  most  lonely  country  places,  and  in 
the  very  heart  of  thickly  inhabited  cities,  Our  Ladj 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  441 

of  Louides  was  invoked,  and  every  where  Our 
Lady  of  Lourdes  responded  with  undeniable  signs 
of  her  power  and  goodness. 

Let  us  still  narrate  two  of  these  divine  histories 
ere  we  close  our  tale,  and  give  a  tableau  of  the 
present  state  of  things.  The  first  forms  an  episode 
in  the  life  of  the  author  of  this  book  which  will 
never  be  effaced  from  his  memory.  This  episode 
we  subjoin,  just  as  we  wrote  it  nearly  seven  years 
ago. 


TENTH  BOOK. 


I. 


K "TOURING  my  whole  life  my  sight  had  been 
1  J  excellent.  I  could  distinguish  objects  at 
an  immense  distance,  and  on  the  other  hand  I  could 
read  my  book  with  the  greatest  ease,  however  close 
it  might  be  to  my  eyes.  I  never  suffered  the  least 
weariness  after  passing  whole  nights  in  study.  I 
was  sometimes  astonished  and  delighted  at  the 
strength  of  my  sight,  which  was  at  the  same  time 
so  powerful  and  so  clear.  I  was  therefore  greatly 
surprised  and  cruelly  disappointed  when,  in  the 
course  of  June  and  'uly,  1862, 1  found  my  sight  be- 
coming by  degree?  .veak,  incapable  of  working  by 
night,  and  at  lengf  i  so  entirely  unserviceable  that 
I  was  obliged  to  g  ve  up  reading  and  writing.  If 
I  attempted  to  tal  e  up  a  book,  at  the  end  of  three 
or  foui  lines — sorr  etimes  at  the  first  glance — I  ex- 
perienced such  d  weariness  in  the  up^c^  part  of  my 
eyes  as  to  render  further  exertion  impossible.  I 
consulted  several  physicians  and  more  particularly 
two  eriiiner.  men  who  devoted  themselves  espe- 
cially to  eye-complaints,  M.  Desmares  and  M.  Gi- 
raud-Teulon. 

"  The  remedies  prescribed  for  me  were  of  little  or 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8 


443 


no  avail.  After  a  period  of  perfect  rest,  and  a  regi- 
men into  which  iron  largely  entered,  there  was  at 
first  a  slight  improvement  in  my  state,  and  one  day 
I  could  read  and  write  in  the  afternoon  for  a  con- 
siderable time ;  but  the  next  day  all  my  distressing 
symptoms  returned.  It  was  then  that  I  tried  local 
remedies,  cold  water  douches  on  the  eye-ball,  cup- 
ping in  the  back  of  the  neck,  a  general  system  of 
hydropathy  and  alcoholic  lotions  in  the  parts  ad- 
joining the  eye.  Sometimes — though  very  rarely 
— I  felt  a  momentary  alleviation  of  the  excessive 
weariness  from  which  I  was  constantly  suffering, 
but  this  only  lasted  for  a  few  moments,  and,  in 
short,  my  complaint  was  insensibly  assuming  that 
chronic  type  which  usually  characterizes  incurable 
infirmities. 

"  In  obedience  to  the  advice  of  my  medical  at- 
tendants, I  had  given  up  my  eyes  to  entire  rest. 
Not  content  with  wearing  blue  spectacles  when- 
ever I  left  the  house,  I  had  quitted  Paris  for  the 
country,  and  retired  to  my  mother's  residence  at 
Coux,  on  the  banks  of  the  Dordogne.  I  had  taken 
with  me  as  my  secretary  a  young  person  who  read 
for  me  the  books  I  required  to  consult,  and  wrote 
from  my  dictation. 

"  September  had  arrived.  This  state  had  lasted 
about  three  months,  and  it  began  to  cause  me  the 
most  serious  uneasiness.  I  suffered  dreadful  anx- 
iety, which  I  did  not  mention  to  any  one.  My  re- 
lations and  friends  had  the  same  fears,  though  they 
kept  them  from  me.  We  were  almost  convinced 
that  my  sight  was  lost  for  ever,  but  each  of  us  tried 
to  inspire  hope  we  had  ceased  to  have  ourselves, 
and  concealed  our  mutual  feelings  of  alarm. 


OITR  LADY  OF  LOURDS8. 

"  I  have  a  very  intimate  friend — a  friend  of  rn) 
earliest  infancy — to  whom  I  am  in  the  habit  of  con- 
fiding my  joys  and  sorrows.  From  my  dictation 
ray  secretary  wrote  him  a  letter  in  which  I  de- 
scribed my  unhappy  situation  and  my  cruel  fears 
for  the  future. 

"  The  friend  of  whom  I  speak  is  a  Protestant,  as 
is  his  wife  also,  a  double  circumstance  which  de- 
serves being  remarked.  For  certain  very  sufficient 
reasons  I  cannot  give  his  name  here  in  full;  we 
will  call  him  M.  de . 

"  He  replied  to  me  a  few  days  afterwards.  His 
letter  reached  me  on  the  i$th  of  September,  and 
surprised  me  greatly.  I  here  give  its  contents 
without  changing  a  single  word  : 

"  '  Your  few  lines,  my  dear  friend,  gave  me  pleas- 
ure ;  but,  as  I  have  already  told  you,  I  long  to  hear 
from  you  in  your  own  handio  iting.  Within  the  last 
few  days,  on  my  return  from  Cauterets,  I  stopped 
at  Lourdes,  near  Tarbes.  I  visited  the  celebrated 
Grotto  there,  and  heard  such  wonderful  things  re- 
lating to  cures  produced  by  its  waters — more  espe- 
cially in  cases  of  eye-complaints — that  I  beg  you 
most  seriously  to  give  them  a  trial.  Were  I  a 
Catholic,  a  believer  like  you,  and  suffering,  as  you 
are,  from  any  malady,  I  should  risk  the  chance 
without  hesitation.  If  it  is  tnie  that  the  sick  have 
been  suddenly  cured,  you  may  hope  to  swell  their 
number ;  and  if  it  is  not  so,  what  do  you  risk  by 
making  the  trial  ?  I  may  add  that  I  am  somewhat 
personally  interested  in  this  experiment.  Should 
it  succeed,  what  an  important  fact  it  would  be  for 
me  to  record  ?  I  should  be  brought  face  to  fac« 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  445 

with  a  miraculous  fact,  or  at  least  with  an  event  to 
which  the  principal  witness  would  be  above  all 
suspicion. 

"  '  It  appears  that  it  is  not  actually  necessary  to 
go  to  Lourdes  to  use  this  water,  as  you  may  just  as 
well  have  it  forwarded  to  you.  You  have  but  to 
write  to  the  Cure  of  Lourdes  on  the  subject  and  he 
will  provide  you  with  it.  It  is  necessary  to  go 
through  certain  preliminary  formalities  which  I  am 
unable  to  point  out  to  you,  but  the  Cur6  of  Lourdes 
will  furnish  you  with  all  particulars.  Beg  him  at 
the  same  time  to  send  you  a  little  pamphlet  by  the 
Vicar-general  of  Tarbes,  which  gives  an  account 
of  the  best  established  miraculous  occurrences.' 

"  This  letter  of  my  friend  was  eminently  calcu- 
lated to  fill  me  with  astonishment.  His  disposition 
of  mind  is  clear,  positive  and  mathematical,  lofty 
m  its  nature,  but  at  the  same  time  not  likely  to 
field  to  the  illusions  of  enthusiasm.  Add  to  this,  he 
s  a  Protestant.  The  advice  he  gave  me  so  seri- 
jusly  and  so  urgently,  amazed  me  more  especially 
as  coming  from  him. 

"  I  resolved,  however,  not  to  follow  it. 

" '  It  seems  to  me,'  I  replied  to  him,  '  that  I  am 
to-day  somewhat  better,  and  if  I  continue  to  im- 
prove I  shall  not  have  any  occasion  to  have  re- 
course this  time  to  the  extraordinary  remedy  you 
propose,  for  which,  besides,  I,  perhaps,  have  not 
sufficient  faith.' 

"  Here,  I  must  confess,  not  without  blushing,  the 
secret  motives  of  my  resistance. 

"  Whatever  I  might  have  said,  I  was  not  wanting 
in  faith,  and  though  I  knew  nothing  of  the  water 


446  OUR  LADY  OF  LOTTRDES. 

of  Lourdes,  except  from  the  impertinent  strictures 
of  some  ill-thinking  journals,  I  was  morally  certain 
that  there,  as  well  as  in  many  other  places,  the 
power  of  God  might  manifest  itself  in  cures.  I  go 
further :  I  had  a  kind  of  presentiment  that  if  I  tried 
this  water — said  to  have  gushed  forth  in  conse- 
quence of  an  Apparition  of  the  Blessed  Virgin — I 
should  be  cured.  But  I  dreaded,  I  confess,  the 
responsibility  of  so  great  a  favor.  '  If  you  are  cured 
by  the  ordinary  routine  of  medicine,'  I  observe  i  to 
myself,  'you  will  be  quits  by  paying  the  doctor. 
You  will  be  in  the  same  position  as  your  neighbor. 
But  if  God  cures  you  by  a  Miracle,  by  the  special 
effect  of  his  power  and  by  a  direct  and  personal  in- 
tervention, it  will  be  quite  a  different  affair  for  you 
and  you  will  be  obliged  to  amend  your  life  and  be- 
come a  saint.  When  God  shall  in  a  manner  have 
given  you  for  the  second  time  with  his  own  hands 
those  eyes  which  are  now  so  little  under  your  con- 
trol, will  you  be  able  to  suffer  them — as  you  do  at 
present — to  stray  towards  objects  which  seduce 
you  or  wander  over  what  may  cause  you  sorrow  ? 
After  a  miracle  exerted  in  your  favor,  God  will  de- 
mand His  recompense,  and  that  will  cost  you  dear- 
er than  the  fees  of  the  doctor.  It  will  then  be  your 
duty  to  overcome  this  evil  habit,  to  acquire  that 
virtue.  What  may  you  not  be  obliged  to  do  ?  Ah  ! 
it  is  impossible.' 

"  And  my  wretched  heart,  fearing  its  own  weak- 
ness, refused  to  accept  the  grace  of  God. 

"  Such  was  my  reason  for  rebelling  against  the 
advice  tendered  me  of  having  recourse  to  this  mi- 
raculous  intervention,  against  this  advice  which 
Providence,  always  profound  in  its  ways,  sent  to 


OUR  LAD7  OF  LOURDE8.  447 

we  by  two  Protestants,  by  two  heietics,  outside  the 
Church.  My  agitation,  however,  and  my  resist- 
ance were  alike  in  vain.  An  interior  voice  was 
for  ever  telling  me  that  the  hand  of  man  would  be 
powerless  to  cure  me,  and  that  the  Master,  whom 
I  had  so  often  offended,  willed  Himself  to  restore 
me  my  sight,  and  thus  presenting  me  with  a  new 
life,  to  prove  whether  I  should  be  able  to  employ  it 
better. 

"  In  the  mean  time  my  state  of  health  remained 
stationary  or  become  slowly  worse. 

"  Early  in  October  I  was  obliged  to  undertake  a 
journey  to  Paris. 

"  By  the  merest  accident  M.  de happened 

to  be  there  at  the  same  time  with  his  wife.  The 
first  visit  I  made  was  to  them.  My  friend  was  stop- 
ping at  the  house  of  his  sister,  Mme.  P ,  who 

resides  in  Paris  with  her  husband. 

"  '  And  how  are  your  eyes  ?'  asked  Mme.  de 

as  I  entered  the  drawing-room. 

"  '  My  eyes  are  always  in  the  same  state,  and  J 
begin  to  think  my  sight  is  lost  for  ever.' 

" '  But  why  do  you  not  try  the  remedy  we  ad- 
vised you  ?'  said  my  friend  to  me.  '  Something  or 
other  gives  me  hopes  that  you  might  be  cured.' 

"  '  Pshaw  !'  I  replied,  '  I  will  confess  to  you,  that 
without  proceeding  to  the  length  of  denial  and 
open  hostility,  I  have  no  great  faith  in  all  these 
waters  and  pretended  apparitions.  All  that  is  pos- 
sible, and  I  have  no  positive  objection  to  it ;  but 
not  having  studied  the  question,  I  am  neither  for 
nor  against  it ;  it  is  beyond  my  reach.  In  short,  1 
have  no  wish  to  have  recourse  to  the  means  you 
ndvise  me.' 


448  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

"  '  You  bring  forward  no  valid  objections  to  such 
a  step/  he  replied.  '  According  to  your  religioui 
principles,  you  must  believe,  and  you  do  believe, 
in  the  possibility  of  such  things.  Such  being  the 
case,  why  should  you  not  make  the  experiment  ? 
What  will  it  cost  you  ?  As  I  have  told  you,  the 
thing  cannot  do  you  any  harm,  since  it  is  merely 
pure  water,  water  of  the  same  chemical  composi- 
tion as  the  most  ordinary  water;  and  since  you 
believe  in  miracles,  and  have  faith  in  your  religion, 
does  it  not  strike  you  as  extraordinary  that  you 
should  be  advised  so  strongly  by  two  Protestants 
to  have  recourse  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  ?  I  tell  you 
beforehand,  that  if  you  are  cured,  it  will  be  a  terri- 
ble argument  against  me.' 

"  Mme.  de joined  her  entreaties  to  those  of 

ner  husband.     M.  and  Mme.  P ,  who  are  both 

Catholics,  urged  me  no  less  strongly.    I  was  driven 
into  my  last  intrenchment. 

" '  Well/  I  said  to  them,  '  I  am  going  to  confess 
the  whole  truth  to  you  and  open  to  you  my  whole 
heart.  I  am  not  wanting  in  faith,  but  I  have  faults, 
weaknesses,  a  thousand  little  wretchednesses — and 
all  these,  alas !  hold  firmly  to  the  most  sensitive  and 
vivants  fibres  of  my  miserable  existence.  Now,  a 
miracle  such  as  the  one  of  which  I  might  possibly 
be  the  object,  would  impose  on  me  the  obligation 
of  sacrificing  everything  and  of  becoming  a  saint ; 
it  would  be  a  terrible  responsibility,  and  I  am  such 
a  coward  that  I  dread  it.  If  God  cures  me,  what 
will  He  exact  from  me  ?  whereas,  with  a  doctor,  a 
little  money  and  the  affair  is  settled. 

" '  This  is  disgusting  is  it  not  ?  But  such  is  the 
wretched  pusillanimity  of  my  heart.  You  fancied 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEk.  .449 

my  faith  was  wavering !  You  imagined  that  1 
feared  the  failure  of  the  miracle  !  Undeceive  your- 
selves. My  fear  is  that  the  miracle  may  succeed.' 

"  My  friends  sought  to  convince  me  that  I  ex- 
aggerated  the  responsibility — of  which  I  spoke- 
as  much  on  the  one  hand  as  I  diminished  it  on  the 
other. 

" '  You  are  not  less  bound  at  the  present  mo- 
ment to  live  a  virtuous  life  than  you  would  be,  sup- 
posing the  event  results  as  we  suppose,'  observed 

M.  de .  'And,  besides,  even  should  your  cure 

be  effected  by  the  hands  of  a  physician,  it  would 
not,  on  that  account,  be  less  a  favor  from  God,  and 
in  that  case  your  scruples  would  have  the  same 
reasons  for  protesting  against  your  weaknesses  01 
your  passions.' 

"All  this  did  not  appear  to  me  perfectly  correct, 

and  M.  de (a  logical  mind  if  ever  there  was 

one)  probably  owned  to  himself  that  his  reasoning 
was  not  altogether  what  it  might  have  been  ;  but 
he  wished,  as  much  as  possible,  to  calm  the  appre- 
hensions I  felt  so  keenly,  and  to  induce  me  to  de- 
cide on  following  the  advice  he  tendered  me,  even 
to  the  length  of  recalling  to  my  mind  himself  the 
grave  responsibility  with  regard  to  which  he  was 
then  endeavoring  to  re-assure  me. 

"In  vain  did  I  attempt  to  combat  the  more  and 
more  pressing  entreaties  of  my  friend,  of  his  wife, 
and  of  our  host  and  hostess.  I  ended,  weary  of 
the  conflict,  by  promising  to  do  everything  they 
wished. 

"  'As  soon  as  I  procure  a  secretary,'  I  told  them, 
I  shall  write  to  Lourdes ;  but  I  only  arrived  to 
day,  and  have  not  yet  had  time  to  look  for  one.' 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES 

"  '  But  1  will  act  as  your  secretary !'  exclaimed 
my  friend. 

" '  Well,  be  it  so  !  To-morrow  we  will  breakfast 
together  at  the  Cafe  de  Foy.  I  will  dictate  a  letter 
to  you  after  breakfast.' 

" '  Why  not  do  so  at  once,'  he  said  to  me 
eagerly.  '  In  that  case  we  gain  a  day.' 

"  Writing  materials  were  produced  from  tne  ad- 
joining apartment.  I  dictated  to  my  friend  a  let- 
ter for  the  Cur£  of  Lourdes,  which  was  posted  the 
same  evening. 

"  The  next  day  M.  de came  to  my  house. 

" '  My  good  friend,'  he  said  to  me,  '  now  that  the 
die  is  cast  and  that  you  have  decided  to  make  the 
trial,  you  must  do  it  seriously,  and  fulfill  the  condi- 
tions necessary  for  its  success,  without*  whicli  the 
experiment  would  be  utterly  useless.  Offer  up  the 
necessary  prayers,  go  to  confession,  bring  your 
soul  into  a  suitable  condition,  and  go  through  the 
devotional  exercises  prescribed  by  your  religion. 
You  understand  that  all  this  is  of  the  most  vital 
importance.' 

•' '  You  are  perfectly  right,'  I  replied,  '  and  I  will 
do  what  you  tell  me.  But  I  must  confess  you  are 
a  queer  Protestant.  A  few  days  since  you  incul- 
cated on  me  faith,  now  you  do  the  same  with  regard 
to  the  practices  of  religion.  We  have  exchanged 
parts  in  a  droll  manner,  and  any  one  overhearing 
us — you  the  Protestant  and  I  the  Catholic — might 
well  be  astonished  ;  and  I  confess,  alas !  the  im- 
pression produced  would  not  be  to  my  advantage.' 

"  '  I  am  a  scientific  man,'  replied  M.  de .  'Ai 

we  are  about  to  make  an  experiment,  I  very  nat- 
nially  wish  we  should  do  it  according  to  the  pre- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 


45* 


scribed  conditions.  I  reason  on  this  subject  as  if  1 
were  reasoning  on  physical  science  or  chemistry.' 

"  I  declare,  to  my  shame,  that  I  did  not  place 
myself  in  the  state  of  preparation  so  judiciously 
recommended  by  my  friend.  I  was,  at  the  time, 
in  a  very  bad  frame  of  mind ;  my  natural  feelings 
were  deeply  agitated,  troubled  and  inclined  to  eviL 

"  I  recognized,  however,  the  necessity  oi  going 
and  throwing  myself  at  the  feet  of  God  ;  but  as  I 
had  not  been  guilty  of  any  of  those  gross  and  ma- 
terial faults,  against  which  there  is  a  sudden  re- 
action in  the  mind,  I  deferred  doing  so  from  day  to 
day.  Man  rebels  more  against  the  sacrament  of 
penance  during  a  temptation  than  when  the  actual 
commission  of  a  sin  has  come  to  overthrow  and 
humiliate  him.  It  is,  in  fact,  more  difficult  to  com- 
bat and  resist  than  to  demand  pardon  after  a  defeat. 
Who  has  not  experienced  this  ? 

"About  a  week  passed  away  in  this  manner.  M. 

and  Mme.  de  inquired  every  day  whether  I 

had  received  any  news  of 'the  miraculous  water,  or 
any  letter  from  the  Curd  of  Lourdes.  The  Curd 
replied  to  me  at  length,  informing  me  that  some  of 
the  water  of  Lourdes  had  been  forwarded  by  the 
railroad,  and  would  shortly  reach  me. 

"  We  awaited  the  moment  in  a  state  of  impa- 
tience which  may  easily  be  conceived ;  but,  would 
you  believe  it  ?  I  felt  less  interest  in  the  matter  than 
my  Protestant  friends. 

"  The  state  of  my  eyes  was  always  the  same.  It 
was  absolutely  impossible  for  me  either  to  read  or 
write. 

"One  morning — it  was  Friday,  October  10,  i86a 
— I  was  waiting  for  M.  de in  the  Gallery  d'Or 


452  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE3. 

leans  at  the  Palais  -  Royal.  We  had  breakfasted 
together.  As  I  had  arrived  earlier  than  the  ap- 
pointed time,  I  was  gazing  at  the  different  shops  in 
the  gallery,  and  reading  the  advertisements  of  some 
new  books  in  front  of  Dentu's  library.  This  was 
enough  to  weary  my  eyes  excessively.  My  sight 
nad  become  so  weak  that  I  could  not  read  even  the 
largest  letters  without  suffering  from  invincible 
lassitude.  This  slight  circumstance  plunged  me 
into  a  state  of  deep  dejection,  as  it  afforded  me  the 
means  of  measuring  once  more  the  full  extent  of  my 
misfortune. 

"  In  the  afternoon,  I  dictated  three  letters  to  M 

de ,  and  at  four  o'clock  I  left  him  and  returned 

to  my  own  residence.     As  I  was  going  up-stairs 
my  porter  called  me. 

"  'A  small  box  has  been  brought  here  for  you 
from  the  railroad,'  he  said  to  me. 

"  I  entered  eagerly  the  porter's  lodge.     A  small 
deal  box  was,  in  fact,  there,  bearing  my  address  and 
these  words — doubtless  intended  for -the  octroi — 
Pure  water.' 

"It  was  the  water  from  Lourdes. 

"  I  experienced  inwardly  a  violent  emotion ;  but 
1  suffered  no  outward  signs  of  it  to  escape  me. 

"  *  Very  well/  said  I  to  my  porter.  '  I  will  take 
it  tc  my  apartment  presently.  I  shall  return  almost 
immediately.' 

"  I  left  the  house  in  a  pensive  frame  of  mind 
and  walked  up  and  down  the  street  for  a  few  mo 
ments. 

" '  The  affair  is  becoming  serious,'  I  thought  to 

myself.     '  De is  right ;  I  must  prepare  myself. 

In  the  state  of  mind  in  which  I  have  been  for  some 


OUR  LADY   OP  LOURDE8. 


453 


time  past,  I  cannot — unless  I  purify  myself — ask 
God  to  perform  a  Miracle  in  my  favor.  It  is  not 
with  a  heart  still  full  of  wretchedness  of  my  own 
choosing  that  I  can  implore  so  great  a  favor  from 
Him.  Let  me  use  my  own  efforts  to  oure  my  soul, 
before  I  beseech  him  to  cure  my  body.' 

"  Revolving  these  serious  considerations  in  my 
mind,  I  proceeded  in  the  direction  of  the  residence 
of  my  confessor,  M.  1'Abbe  Ferraud  de  Missol,  who 
lives  in  my  immediate  neighborhood.  Happily  I 
was  certain  of  meeting  with  him,  as  it  was  Friday, 
and  he  is  always  at  home  on  that  day. 

"  He  was  at  home ;  but  several  persons  were 
already  in  his  ante-chamber  waiting  for  him,  and 
they  would  naturally  see  him  before  my  turn  came. 
In  addition  to  this,  one  of  the  members  of  his 
family  had  arrived  unexpectedly  on  a  visit.  His 
servant  informed  me  of  all  this,  and  begged  me  to 
return  in  the  evening  after  his  dinner-hour,  towards 
seven  o'clock. 

"  I  resigned  myself  to  this  proposal. 

"  On  reaching  the  street-door  I  paused  for  a  mo- 
ment.  I  hesitated  between  my  wish  to  pay  a  visit 
I  had  much  at  heart,  and  my  thought  ot  returning 
to  my  own  house  to  pray.  My  fancy  urged  me 
violently  in  the  direction  of  amusement,  while  a 
grave  voice — a  voice  which  only  appeared  to  me  to 
be  feeble,  because  I  had  usually  been  deaf  to  it — a 
deep  and  holy  voice  called  me  to  retirement. 

"  I  hesitated  some  moments,  deliberating  in  my 
own  mind. 

"At  length  the  good  inspiration  carried  the  day, 
and  I  retraced  my  steps  towards  the  Rue  de  Seine, 

"  I  took  from  my  porter  the  little  box.  which  was 


454  OUE  LADY  OF  LOVRDS8. 

accompanied  with  a  Notice  of  the  Apparitions  at 
Lourdes,  and  with  hasty  steps  ascended  the  stair- 
case. 

"  On  reaching  my  apartment  I  knelt  down  at  the 
side  of  my  bed  and  prayed,  altogether  unworthy 
as  I  felt  myself  to  turn  my  eyes  towards  heaven 
and  to  address  myself  to  God. 

"  I  then  rose.  On  entering  my  room,  I  had  placed 
the  little  deal  box  and  the  pamphlet  on  the  mantel- 
piece. I  glanced  every  moment  at  this  box  which 
contained  the  mysterious  water,  and  it  seemed  to 
me  as  if  something  grand  was  going  to  take  place 
in  that  solitary  chamber.  I  dreaded  to  touch  with 
my  impure  hands  the  wood  which  contained  the 
sacred  water,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  I  felt  myself 
strangely  tempted  to  open  it,  even  before  making 
my  confession  as  I  had  proposed  doing.  This 
struggle  lasted  some  moments ;  it  ended  in  a 
pi  ayer. 

"  '  Yes,  my  God/  I  exclaimed,  '  I  am  a  miserable 
sinner,  unworthy  to  raise  my  voice  towards  Thee, 
and  to  touch  an  object  which  Thou  hast  blessed. 
But  it  is  the  very  excess  of  my  misery  which  should 
excite  thy  compassion.  My  God,  I  come  to  Thee 
and  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  Rill  of  faith  and 
unreserved  confidence  ,  and  from  the  depth  of  the 
abyss,  I  cry  out  unto  Thee.  To-night  I  shall  con- 
fess my  sins  to  Thy  minister,  but  my  faith  cannot 
and  will  not  wait.  Forgive  me,  O  Lord,  and  hea< 
me.  And  Thou,  O  Mother  of  Mercy,  come  to  the 
assistance  of  thy  unfortunate  child.' 

"  Having  thus  refreshed  myself  with  prayer,  I 
summoned  courage  to  open  the  little  box  of  which 
I  have  spoken.  It  contained  a  bottle  full  of  water 


OUR  LAD7   OF  LOURDE8.  455 

"  I  removed  the  cork,  poured  some  ol  the  water 
into  a  cup  and  took  a  napkin  out  of  my  commode 
These  common  preparations,  which  I  went  through 
with  a  particular  attention,  were  impressed — as  I 
st.  11  remember — with  a  secret  solemnity,  which 
struck  me  myself,  as  I  went  to  and  fro  in  my  cham 
ber.  In  that  chamber  I  was  not  alone;  it  wa? 
manifest  that  God  was  there.  The  Blessed  Virgin, 
whom  I  had  invoked,  was  doubtless  there  also. 

"  Faith,  fervent  and  ardent,  had  inflamed  my  soul. 

"  When  my  preparations  were  all  finished,  I  knelt 
down  again. 

" '  O  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,'  I  said  with  a  loud 
voice,  '  have  pity  on  me  and  heal  my  physical  and 
moral  blindness.' 

"  On  saying  these  words,  with  my  heart  full  of 
confidence,  I  rubbed  successively  both  my  eyes 
and  my  forehead  with  the  towel  I  had  just  soaked 
in  the  water  of  Lourdes.  What  I  am  now  describ- 
ing did  not  occupy  the  space  of  thirty  seconds. 

"  Judge  of  my  astonishment — I  had  almost  said  my 
horror.  Scarcely  had  I  applied  this  miraculous 
water  to  my  eyes  and  brow  when  I  felt  myself  all 
at  once  cured,  immediately,  without  any  interme- 
diate state  and  with  a  suddenness  which  1  can  only 
compare  in  my  imperfect  language  to  that  of  a 
flash  of  lightning. 

"  Strange  contradiction  of  human  nature !  A  mo- 
ment before  I  believed  in  my  faith,  which  promised 
me  my  cure  ;  and  now  I  could  not  believe  my 
senses  which  assured  me  that  the  cure  was  accom- 
plished. 

"  No !  I  did  not  believe  my  senses,  and  that  to 
such  a  degree  that  in  spite  of  the  astounding  effect 


456  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

already  produced,  I  committed  the  fault  of  Moses 
and  struck  the  rock  twice.  In  other  words,  for 
some  time  longer,  I  continued  to  pray  and  moisten 
my  eyes  and  my  brow,  not  daring  to  rise,  not  dar- 
ing to  test  the  reality  of  my  cure. 

"  However,  at  the  expiration  of  ten  minutes,  the 
strength  I  continued  to  feel  in  my  eyes  and  the  en- 
tire  absence  of  any  heaviness  in  my  sight,  left  no 
longer  any  room  for  doubt. 

"  '  I  am  cured  !'  I  exclaimed. 

"  And  I  ran  to  take  a  book — no  matter  what — to 
read.  I  stopped  all  at  once.  '  No !  no  !'  I  said  to 
myself,  '  it  is  not  any  kind  of  book  that  I  can  take 
up  at  this  moment.' 

"  I  went  to  seek  the  Notice  of  the  Apparitions 
which  was  lying  on  the  mantel-piece.  Certainly, 
this  was  but  an  act  of  justice. 

I  read  one  hundred  and  four  pages  without  in- 
terruption, and  without  experiencing  the  slightest 
fatigue.  Twenty  minutes  before  I  could  not  have 
read  three  lines. 

"  And  if  I  did  stop  at  page  104  it  was  because  it 
was  thirty-five  minutes  past  five  in  the  evening, 
and  at  that  hour,  towards  the  middle  of  October, 
it  is  almost  dark  at  Paris.  When  I  laid  aside  the 
book,  the  gas  was  being  lighted  in  the  shops  of  the 
street  in  which  I  resided. 

"  In  the  evening  I  made  my  confession  and  in- 
formed the  Abb£  Ferraud  of  the  great  favor  the 
Blrssed  Virgin  had  just  conferred  on  me.  Al- 
though far  from  being  prepared,  as  I  have  already 
said,  I  was  permitted  by  him  to  communicate  the 
next  morning,  in  order  to  thank  God  for  so  special 
extraordinarv  a  benefit,  and  to  fortify  the 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDKB.  45; 

lulions  which  an  event  of  such  a  nature  could  not 
fail  of  giving  birth  to  in  my  heart. 

"  M.  and  Mme.  de were — as  you  may  easily 

imagine — singularly  affected  by  this  occurrence  :'n 
which  Providence  had  caused  them  to  take  so  di- 
rect a  part.  What  were  their  reflections  regarding 
it  ?  By  what  thoughts  were  they  visited  ?  What 
passed  in  the  interior  of  those  two  souls?  It  is 
their  secret  and  the  secret  of  God.  What  little  I 
succeeded  in  discovering  with  regard  to  their 
feelings,  I  have  not  been  authorized  to  impart  to 
others. 

"  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  knew  the  nature  of  my  friend. 
I  left  him  to  his  own  reflections,  without  pressing 
him  to  come  to  any  conclusion.  I  knew,  and  I 
know  still,  that  God  has  His  appointed  hour,  and 
knows  His  own  designs.  His  agency  was  so  dis- 
tinctly visible  in  all  that  had  happened,  that  I  fear- 
ed to  interfere  myself,  in  spite  of  my  great  wish — 
which  was  well-known  to  my  friends — that  they 
should  enter  the  only  Church  which  contains  God 
in  all  His  fullness. 

"  I  regret  being  unable  to  pause  here  in  order  to 
contemplate  for  an  instant  in  my  memory  those 
two  beings — so  dear  to  me — receiving  by  the  re- 
bound of  the  Miracle,  accomplished  in  my  favor, 
the  first  shocks,  which  Truth  gives  to  such  as  she 
wishes  to  conquer.  ..... 

"  Seven  years  have  elapsed  since  my  miraculous 
cure.  My  sight  is  excellent.  It  is  not  ever  wear- 
ied by  reading,  hard  work,  or  sitting  up  at  night. 
God  grant  me  grace  never  to  employ  it  save  in  th«» 
cause  of  right." 
20 


45S  0KB  LADY  OP  LOUEDES. 

11. 

ANOTHER  episode. 

There  are  not  unfrequently  to  be  round  in  civi. 
ife,  men  who  from  their  outward  appearance  might 
be  mistaken  for  soldiers.  Although  they  have 
never  lived  in  camps,  all  who  happen  to  see  them 
passing  by  and  are  not  acquainted  with  them,  in- 
fallibly take  them  for  old  military  men.  They  have 
their  somewhat  stiff  carriage,  firm  bearing,  regi- 
mental look,  and  also  their  abrupt  good  nature. 
Men  of  this  stamp  are  more  especially  found  in 
mixed  services,  such  as  the  Custom-house,  Woods 
and  Forests,  etc.,  which,  though  purely  civil,  bor- 
row from  the  system  adopted  in  the  army,  their 
gradations  of  rank  and  style  of  employment.  On 
one  hand  they  have,  like  men  in  private  life,  a  fami- 
ly, a  home  and  a  domestic  life ;  on  the  other  they 
are  subjected  on  every  side  to  the  multiplied  exi- 
gences of  a  purely  military  organization.  The  re- 
sult is  to  be  found  in  those  singular  physiognomies 
of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  and  which  every  one 
must  have  remarked. 

If  then  you  have  ever  seen  a  gallant  cavalry  offi- 
cer dressed  in  plain  clothes,  his  hair  cut  short,  with 
a  bristly  moustache  in  which  a  few  gray  hairs  may 
be  detected  ;  if  you  have  remarked,  among  his 
energetic  features,  those  vertical  and  rectilineal 
wrinkles — no,  they  can  hardly  be  called  wrinkles — 
which  would  seem  to  be  peculiar  to  these  mil:tary 
countenances  ;  if  you  have  scanned  carefully  those 
foreheads,  entirely  unfit  for  hats,  out  which  appear 
to  be  made  expressly  for  the  kepi  or  the  silver- 


OUB  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  459 

laced  tricorne ;  those  firm  but  mild  eyes  which  du- 
ring the  day  are  habituated  to  brave  danger,  and 
which  at  the  approach  of  evening  are  softened  in 
the  intimacy  of  the  fireside,  and  love  to  gaze  on 
the  countenances  of  children ;  if  you  have  any  re- 
collecti©n  of  this  characteristic  type,  I  have  no 
occasion  to  sketch  for  you  the  portrait  of  M.  Roger 
Lacassagne,  holding  an  appointment  in  the  custom- 
house at  Bordeaux ;  you  know  him  as  well  as  I  do 
myself. 

When,  nearly  two  years  ago,  I  had  the  honor  of 
calling  on  him  at  his  residence,  6  Rue  du  Chai  des 
Farines,  at  Bordeaux,  I  was  struck  at  first  with  his 
severe  aspect  and  reserved  address. 

He  enquired  from  me,  with  the  somewhat  abrupt 
politeness  of  men  accustomed  to  discipline,  the  ob- 
ject of  my  visit. 

"  Sir,"  I  replied,  "  I  have  heard  of  the  history  of 
your  journey  to  the  Grotto  of  Lourdes,  and  to  as- 
sist me  in  the  investigations  I  am  making  just  now, 
I  have  come  to  hear  the  recital  from  your  own 
mouth." 

At  the  words  "  Grotto  of  Lourdes "  his  harsh 
countenance  had  brightened  up,  and  the  emotion 
of  a  stirring  souvenir  had  all  at  once  softened  the 
austere  lines  of  his  brow. 

"  Sit  down,"  said  the  gallant  man,  "  and  excuse 
my  receiving  you  in  this  room  in  its  present  state 
of  disorder.  My  famil.y  start  to-day  for  Arcachon, 
and  you  find  us  in  all  the  bustle  of  moving." 

"  That  is  of  no  importance.  Kindly  relate  to  me 
the  events  of  which  I  have  been  informed  only  in  a 
iomewhat  confused  manner." 

"  As  for  myself."  he  said,  in  a  tone  of  voice  'n 


460  OUR  LADY  OIF  LOURDEB. 

which  I  could  trace  tears,  "  as  for  myself,  never,  ai 
long  as  I  live,  shall  I  forget  a  single  circumstance." 

"  Sir,"  he  resumed,  after  a  moment  of  silence,  "  I 
have  only  two  sons.  The  youngest  is  called  Jules, 
and  it  is  of  him  only  that  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
speak  to  you.  He  will  be  here  almost  immediately. 
You  will  see  how  amiable,  pure  and  good  he  is." 

M.  Lacassagne  did  not  inform  me  how  tenderly 
he  loved  his  youngest  son.  But  the  tone  of  his 
voice,  which  seemed  to  become  soft  and  caressing 
when  speaking  of  him,  revealed  to  me  all  the  depth 
of  his  paternal  love.  I  saw  plainly  that  there,  in 
this  feeling  at  once  so  tender  and  so  strong,  was 
concentrated  the  manly  soul  which  was  opening  it- 
self to  me. 

"  His  health,"  he  continued,  "  had  been  excellent 
up  to  the  age  of  ten  years. 

"  At  that  period  he  was  attacked  suddenly,  and 
without  any  apparent  physical  cause,  with  a  mala- 
dy, the  serious  nature  of  which  1  did  not  at  first  re- 
alize. On  the  25th  of  January,  1865,  when  we 
were  taking  our  seats  at  the  table  for  supper,  Jules 
complained  of  there  being  something  the  matter 
with  his  throat  which  prevented  his  swallowing 
any  solid  food.  He  could  only  take  a  little  soup. 

"  As  he  remained  in  the  same  state  the  next  day, 
I  called  in  one  of  the  most  eminent  medical  men  of 
Toulouse,  M.  Nogu&s. 

" '  It  proceeds  from  the  nerves,'  observed  the 
Doctor,  giving  me  every  hope  of  a  speedy  recov- 
ery. 

"  A  few  days  afterwards,  in  fact,  the  child  was 
able  to  eat,  and  I  thought  he  was  quite  convales- 
cent, when  the  malady  returned,  and  continued 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  461 

with  intermissions,  more  or  less  regular,  until  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  month  of  April.  From  that 
time,  his  state  remained  unchanged.  The  poor 
child  was  reduced  to  live  exclusively  on  liquids, 
such  as  milk,  gravy  from  meat,  and  broth.  Even 
the  broth  was  obliged  to  be  somewhat  thin,  for  the 
orifice  in  his  throat  was  so  narrow  that  it  was  abso- 
lutely impossible  for  him  to  swallow  even  tapioca. 

"  The  poor  little  fellow,  reduced  to  such  misera- 
ble nourishment,  became  visibly  thinner  and  was 
slowly  wasting  away. 

"  The  physicians — for  there  were  two  of  then:, 
as  from  the  first  I  had  begged  M.  Roques,  a  man  o* 
great  medical  celebrity,  to  act  in  concert  with  M. 
Nogu&s — astonished  at  the  singularity  and  obstinacy 
of  this  affection,  sought  in  vain  to  acquire  a  clear 
.dea  of  its  nature  in  order  to  fix  upon  its  remedy. 

"  One  day,  it  was  the  roth  of  May — I  have  suffer- 
ed so  much,  sir,  and  thought  so  much  about  this  un- 
fortunate malady,  that  I  have  remembered  all  the 
dates — I  perceived  Jules  in  the  garden  running  with 
very  unusual  precipitation,  and,  as  it  were,  by  jerks. 
I  feared,  sir,  the  least  agitation  for  him. 

" '  Stop,  Jules,'  I  exclaimed,  going  towards  him 
and  seizing  him  by  the  hand. 

<f  He  made  his  escape  from  me  immediately. 

" '  Papa,'  he  said, '  I  cannot  stop.  I  must  run.  I« 
is  stronger  than  I  am. 

"  I  took  him  on  my  knees  ;  his  legs  twitched  con- 
vulsively. A  short  time  afterwards  his  head  was 
attacked  with  ghastly  contortions. 

"  The  true  character  of  his  malady  was  now  ap- 
parent. My  unfortunate  child  was  suffering  from 
chorea.  You  know  doubtless,  sir.  with  what  terri- 


462  OUR  LADY  OF  LOVRDES. 

ble  fits  tus  horrible  malady  generally  discove  s  it> 
self" 

"  No,"  I  exclaimed,  interrupting  him,  "  I  do  not 
even  know  what  a  chorea  is." 

"  It  is  a  disease  commonly  known  by  the  name 
of  St  Vitus'  dance." 

"  Ah  !     Now  I  know  what  it  is.     Proceed." 

"  The  principal  seat  of  the  disease  was  in  the 
oesophagus.  The  symptoms  which  had  developed 
themselves,  and  which,  unfortunately,  re-appeared 
every  hour  of  the  day  without  cessation,  put  an 
end  to  the  doubts  of  the  medical  men. 

"  However,  though  they  had  traced  the  malady 
to  its  source,  they  were  unable  to  overcome  it. 
The  utmost  they  could  do  after  fifteen  months  of 
treatment,  was  to  subdue  the  external  symptoms, 
such  as  the  twitchings  of  the  legs  and  head ;  or 
rath<  r,  to  say  what  I  really  think,  these  symptoms 
disappeared  of  their  own  accord  b_y  an  effort  of  na- 
ture. As  to  the  extreme  contraction  of  the  throat, 
it  had  passed  into  a  chronic  state,  and  resisted  all 
our  efforts.  Remedies  of  every  kind,  country  air, 
and  the  baths  of  Luchon,  were  successively  and 
fruitlessly  employed  for  the  space  of  two  years. 
These  different  treatments  only  served  to  exasper- 
ate the  malady. 

"  Our  last  attempt  was  passing  a  summer  at  the 
eea-side  for  the  sake  of  the  baths.  My  wife  had 
taken  our  poor  invalid  to  St.  Jean-de-Luz.  It  is 
needless  tc  tell  you,  that,  in  the  state  in  which  he 
was,  we  were  entirely  absorbed  in  attending  to  his 
physical  organization.  Our  grand  object  was  mere- 
ly to  keep  him  alive.  We  had  from  the  very  first 
suspended  his  studies,  and  all  mental  exertion  \\  as 


OUR  LAD 7  OF  LOURDES.  463 

prohibited  :  we  treated  him  as  if  he  were  merely 
vegetating.  Now,  as  his  mind  was  active  and  se- 
rious, this  privation  of  all  intellectual  exercise  great- 
ly affected  his  spirits.  Besides  the  poor  child  was 
ashamed  of  his  malady ;  he  saw  others  of  his  own 
age  in  health,  and  he  felt  himself  to  be  as  it  were, 
disgraced  and  accursed.  He  avoided  all " 

The  Father,  quite  overcome  by  these  souvenirs, 
paused  a  moment  as  if  to  master  a  sob  in  his  voice. 

"  He  avoided  all  company,"  he  resumed.  "  He 
was  sad.  Did  he  find  any  book,  he  read  it  to  dis- 
tract his  thoughts.  At  St.  Jean-de-Luz,  he  saw 
ons  day  on  the  table  of  a  lady  who  resided  in  the 
neighborhood,  a  little  notice  of  the  Apparition  at 
Lourdes.  He  read  it,  and  was,  as  it  would  appear, 
greatly  struck  with  it.  In  the  evening  he  observec1 
to  his  mother,  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  might  easily 
cure  him ;  but  she  paid  no  attention  to  his  words, 
regarding  them  as  a  mere  childish  fancy. 

"  When  we  returned  to  Bordeaux — for,  a  short 
time  before  this  my  station  had  been  changed,  and 
we  had  come  to  reside  here — my  poor  child's  state 
was  precisely  the  same. 

"  This  was  in  the  month  of  August,  last  year. 
As  you  may  well  imagine,  we  were  profoundly  dis- 
couraged at  seeing  the  unavailing  result  of  so  much 
medical  skill,  and  the  failure  of  so  much  care.  By 
degrees  we  ceased  applying  any  kind  of  remedy, 
^caving  nature  to  itself,  and  resigning  ourselves  tc 
the  inevitable  misfortune  with  which  it  had  pleased 
God  to  visit  us.  It  seemed  to  us  as  if  so  much 
suffering  had  somehow  or  other  redoubled  our 
love  for  the  poor  child.  Jules  was  attended  to  by 
bis  m  )ther  and  myself  with  equal  tenderness  and 


464  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB. 

unceasing  solicitude.     Grief  has  aged  us  both  manj 
years.     Look  at  me,  sir,  I  am  only  forty-six." 

I  looked  at  the  poor  father,  and  the  sight  of  his 
furrowed  countenance,  on  which  grief  had  left  un- 
mistakable traces,  touched  my  heart  deeply.  I  took 
his  hand  and  pressed  it  with  cordial  sympathy  and 
profound  compassion. 

"  In  the  meanwhile,"  he  continued,  "  the  child's 
strength  was  visibly  decreasing.  For  two  whole 
years,  he  had  not  taken  any  solid  food.  It  was  only 
at  great  expense,  by  means  of  liquid  nourishment, 
which  we  exerted  every  effort  to  make  as  substan- 
tial as  possible,  and  owing  to  exceptional  care  of 
him,  that  we  had  succeeded  in  prolonging  his  days. 
He  was  reduced  to  a  frightful  state  of  emaciation. 
He  was  extremely  pale,  and  seemed  to  have  no 
blood  under  his  skin,  so  much  so  that  he  might  have 
been  taken  for  a  wax  figure.  Death  was  plainly 
approaching  with  rapid  steps.  It  was  more  than 
certain,  it  was  imminent.  In  truth,  sir,  in  spite  of  my 
experience  of  the  impotency  of  medical  science,  I 
could  not  in  my  grief  prevent  myself  from  knock- 
ing once  more  at  the  same  door.  It  was  the  only 
one  I  knew  anything  of. 

"  I  addressed  myself  to  M.  Gintrac,  Sr.,  the  most 
eminent  physician  in  Bordeaux. 

"  M.  Gintrac  examined  the  child's  throat,  probed 
:t,  and  discovered  tnat,  oesides  the  extreme  con- 
traction which  closed  the  alimentary  canal,  there 
were  rugosities  symptomatic  of  extreme  danger. 

"  He  shook  his  head  and  gave  me  but  little  hope 
He  saw  my  terrible  anxiety. 

"  *  I  do  not  say  that  he  may  not  recover,'  he  add 
ded, '  but  he  is  very  ill. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  465 

"  These  were  his  very  words. 

"  He  deemed  the  employment  of  local  remedies 
absolutely  necessary ;  first  injections,  and  then  touch- 
ing  the  parts  with  a  rag  steeped  in  ether.  But 
this  treatment  entirely  upset  my  poor  boy,  and  such 
being  the  result,  M.  Sentex,  the  house-surgeon  of 
the  hospital,  advised  us  himself  to  discontinue  it. 

"  During  one  of  my  visits  to  Doctor  Gintrac,  I 
informed  him  of  an  idea  which  had  occurred  to  me. 

"  '  It  appears  to  me,'  I  said, '  that  if  Jules  wished  to 
swallow,  he  might  do  so.  It  may  be  that  this  diffi- 
culty proceeds  only  from  fear,  and  perhaps  he  does 
not  swallow  to-day  merely  because  he  was  unable 
to  do  so  yesterday.  In  that  case,  it  may  be  a  men- 
tal malady,  which  moral  means  alone  can  cure.' 

"  The  Doctor  deprived  me  of  this  last  illusion. 

"  '  You  are  mistaken,'  he  said.  '  The  malady  is 
m  the  organs,  which  are  but  too  really  and  too  deep- 
ly attacked.  I  have  not  confined  myself  to  a  mere 
ocular  examination — which  might  lead  us  into  error 
—but  I  have  probed  the  parts,  and  felt  them  most 
minutely  with  my  fingers.  The  oesophagus  is  lined 
with  rugosities,  and  the  duct  is  so  extremely  con- 
tracted, that  it  is  materially  impossible  for  the  child 
to  take  any  food  except  those  in  a  liquid  form,  which 
reduce  themselves  naturally  to  the  size  of  the  duct, 
and  pass  through  the  orifice,  about  as  large  as  the 
eye  of  a  needle,  which  still  exists.  A  very  slight 
increase  in  the  swelling  of  the  tissues  and  the  inva- 
lid would  be  suffocated.  The  commencement  of 
the  malady,  the  alternations  for  better  and  worse 
which  have  characterized  it,  and  its  momentary  in- 
terruptions serve  to  corroborate  my  material  obser 
vationj.  Your  son  having  been  once  cured  would 
20* 


466  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

have  remained  always  cured,  had  the  evil  been  ona 
of  the  mind.  Unfortunately,  it  is  in  the  organs.' 

"  These  observations  which  had  been  made  to  me 
already  at  Toulouse,  but  which  I  had  wilfully  disre- 
garded, were  too  conclusive  not  to  produce  convic- 
tion in  my  mind.  I  returned  home,  with  the  sen- 
tence ol  death  in  my  soul. 

"  What  then  could  be  done  ?  We  had  sought  ad- 
vice from  the  most  eminent  physicians  of  Toulouse 
and  Bordeaux,  and  all  had  been  in  vain.  The  fatal 
truth  was  brought  home  to  me ;  our  poor  child  was 
condemned,  and  that  without  appeal. 

"  It  is  difficult,  sir,  for  the  heart  of  a  father  to  be 
convinced  of  so  cruel  a  fact.  I  still  endeavored  to 
deceive  myself.  I  was  always  in  consultation  with 
my  wife,  and  began  to  think  of  hydropathy. 

"  Things  had  reached  this  desperate  and  discour- 
aging state,  when  Jules  addressed  his  mother — in  a 
tone  of  voice  so  full  of  confidence  and  absolute  cer- 
tainty, as  could  not  fail  to  strike  her — the  following 
words : 

"  '  You  see,  mamma,  neither  M.  Gintrac  nor  any 
other  doctor  can  do  anything  for  me.  It  is  the 
Blessed  Virgin  who  will  cure  me.  Send  me  to  the 
Grotto  of  Lourdes,  and  you  will  see  I  shall  be 
cured.  I  am  sure  of  it.' 

"  My  wife  repeated  to  me  what  he  had  said. 

"  '  There  is  no  room  for  hesitation/  I  exclaimed. 
We  must  take  him  to  Lourdes — and  that  without 
ielay.' 

"  It  is  not,  sir,  that  I  had  faith.  I  did  not  believe 
in  miracles,  and  I  did  not  regard  such  extraordi- 
nary interventions  of  the  Divinity  as  possible.  But 
I  was  a  father,  and  no  chance,  however  slight  it 


0 UB  LAD T  OF  LO URDEB.  467 

might  be,  appeared  to  me  to  be  contemptible.  Be- 
sides, I  hoped  that,  independently  of  those  super- 
natural events  which  it  was  difficult  for  me  to 
admit,  this  might  produce  a  salutary  moral  effect 
on  my  child.  As  for  a  complete  cure,  you  may 
easily  understand,  sir,  I  did  not  even  think  of  it. 

"  The  time  was  winter,  about  the  beginning  of 
February.  The  season  was  a  severe  one,  and  1 
feared  to  expose  Jules  to  the  least  inclemency  of 
weather.  I  wished  to  wait  for  the  first  fine  day. 

"  Since  my  boy  had  read  the  little  account  of  the 
Apparition  at  Lourdes — eight  months  previously 
at  St.  Jean-de-Luz — the  feeling  he  now  expressed 
to  us  had  never  left  him.  Having  displayed  it  once 
there — when  it  did  not  meet  with  any  attention — 
he  had  never  mentioned  it  again ;  but  this  idea  had 
remained  in  his  mind  and  been  his  constant  com 
panion  while  he  was  submitting — with  a  patience 
which  you  should  have  seen,  sir — to  the  treatment 
prescribed  by  the  medical  men. 

"  This  faith  so  full  and  entire  was  the  more  extra- 
ordinary, as  we  had  not  brought  up  our  child  in 
any  exaggerated  notions  of  the  duties  of  religion. 
My  wife  went  through  her  routine  of  devotion,  and 
that  was  all ;  and,  as  for  myself,  I  was  imbued,  as  I 
have  just  told  you,  with  pnnosuphical  ideas  of 
ijUite  another  kind. 

"  On  the  1 2th  of  February  the  weather  promised 
to  be  splendid.  We  took  the  train  for  Tarbes. 

"  During  the  whole  journey  our  child  was  gay 
full  of  absolute  raith  in  his  cure— of  a  faith  which 
quite  upset  me. 

"  '  I  shall  be  cured,'  he  said  to  me  every  moment. 
*  You  ivill  see.  Many  others  have  been  cured  ;  whj 


468  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

should  not  I  ?  The  Blessed  Virgin  is  going  to  c  tre 
me.' 

"  And  I,  sir,  supported,  without  partaking  in  it, 
this  so  great  confidence,  this  confidence  which  I 
should  qualify  as  '  stupefying,'  did  I  not  fear  to 
,be  wanting  in  respect  to  God  who  inspired  him 
(with  it. 

"At  Tarbes,  at  the  Hotel  Dupont,  where  we 
alighted,  every  one  remarked  my  poor  child,  so 
pale  and  weak,  but  at  the  same  time  so  sweet  and 
charming  in  appearance.  I  had  mentioned  the  ob- 
ject of  my  visit,  to  the  proprietors  of  the  hotel.  A 
happy  presentiment  seemed  to  mingle  itself  with 
the  kind  wishes  of  these  good  hearted  people,  and, 
when  we  started,  I  saw  that  they  expected  our 
return  with  impatience. 

"  In  spite  of  my  doubts,  in  order  to  be  prepared 
for  whatever  might  happen,  I  took  with  me  a  little 
box  of  biscuits. 

"  When  we  reached  the  crypt  which  is  beneath 
the  Grotto,  Mass  was  being  said.  Jules  prayed 
with  a  faith  which  was  reflected  on  all  his  features, 
with  an  ardor  which  proceeded  from  heaven.  He 
was  altogether  transfigured,  poor  little  angel. 

"  The  Priest  remarked  his  fervor,  aud  when  he 
had  quitted  the  altar,  he  came  immediately  out  of 
the  Sacristy  again  and  approached  us.  A  happy 
thought  had  suggested  itself  to  his  mind,  on  seeing 
my  poor  darling.  He  informed  me  of  it,  and  then 
turning  towards  Jules,  who  was  still  kneeling — 

"  *  My  child,'  said  he,  '  are  you  willing  that  1 
ihould  consecrate  you  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  ?' 

'  '  Oh  !  yes,'  replied  Jules. 

"  I  lie   priest  proceeded   immediately   with   the 


OUR  LADT   OF  LOURDES.  469 

simple  ceremony,  and  recited  the  holy  formularies 
over  my  son. 

"'And  now/  exclaimed  the  child,  in  a  tone  of 
voice  which  struck  me,  owing  to  its  perfect  confi- 
dence ;  '  and  now,  papa,  I  am  going  to  be  cured.' 

"We  went  down  into  the  Grotto.  Jules  knelt 
down  before  the  statue  of  the  Virgin  and  prayed. 
I  watched  him,  and  I  still  have  before  my  eyes  the 
expression  of  his  countenance,  his  attitude  and  his 
clasped  hands. 

"  He  rose  and  we  went  in  front  of  the  foun- 
tain. 

"  That  moment  was  a  terrible  one. 

"He  washed  his  neck  and  breast,  and  then  taking 
the  glass  drank  a  few  mouthfuls  of  the  miraculous 
water. 

"  He  was  calm  and  happy ;  nay,  more,  he  was 
gay  and  radiant  with  confidence. 

"  For  myself,  I  trembled  and  shuddered  almost 
to  fainting  at  this  last  trial;  but  I  repressed  my 
emotion,  though  it  was  most  difficult  for  me  to  do 
so.  I  did  not  wish  to  let  him  see  that  I  still  had 
doubts. 

"  '  Try  now  to  eat,'  I  said  to  him,  handing  him  a 
biscuit. 

"  He  took  it  and  I  turned  my  head  aside,  not 
teeling  strength  to  watch  him  while  making  the 
effort.  It  was  in  fact  the  question  of  my  child's 
life  or  death  which  was  going  to  be  decided.  In 
that  question,  so  terrible  for  a  father's  heart,  I 
was  playing,  so  to  say,  my  last  card.  If  I  failed, 
my  beloved  Jules  was  dead.  The  trial  was  to  be 
decisive  and  I  dared  not  face  the  sight. 

"  I  was  soon  relieved  from  my  poignant  anguish 


472  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

"  '  Ah !   I  shall  never  forget  her/  he  exclaimeo 
in  reply. 

"  At  Tarbes  we  stopped  at  the  same  hotel  as  on 
the  evening  before.  We  were  expected  there.  The 
good  people  of  the  house  had — as  I  think  I  have 
already  told  you — I  know  not  what  happy  presenti- 
ment. Their  joy  was  extraordinary.  Groups  were 
formed  around  us  to  see  him  eat  with  sensible 
pleasure  of  whatever  was  served  at  the  table ;  one, 
who  but  the  evening  before,  could  only  swallow  a 
few  spoonsful  of  liquid.  That  time  seemed  already 
long  ago. 

"  This  malady  which  had  foiled  the  skill  of  tbe 
most  eminent  physicians  and  which  had  just  beefc 
so  miraculously  cured,  had  been  of  two  years  and 
nineteen  days'  duration. 

"  We  were  impatient  to  see  once  more  the  happy 
mother,  and  took  the  express  to  Bordeaux.  The 
child  was  worn  out  with  the  fatigue  of  his  journey, 
and  I  should  have  said  by  his  emotions  also,  had  I 
not  observed  his  constant  and  peaceful  serenity  in 
oresence  of  his  sudden  cure,  which  filled  him  with 
gladness,  but  which  caused  him  no  astonishment. 
He  desired  to  go  to  bed  as  soon  as  he  arrived.  He 
was  overwhelmed  with  sleep  and  did  not  eat  any 
supper.  When  his  mother,  who  was  dying  with 
joy  before  our  arrival,  saw  him  thus  oppressed 
with  weariness  and  refusing  to  eat,  she  was  attacked 
with  a  fearful  doubt.  She  was  in  despair.  She  ac- 
cused me  of  having  deceived  her,  and  I  had  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  the  world  to  make  her  believe 
me.  How  great  was  her  happiness  when  on  the 
following  day  our  beloved  Jules,  seated  at  our  table, 
Breakfasted  with  us,  and  displayed  a  better  appctito 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES.  473 

khan  we  did.  It  was  not  till  then  that  she  became 
tranquil  and  re-assured." 

"  And  since  that  time,"  I  asked  him,  "  has  there 
been  no  relapse  or  unfavorable  symptoms  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,  nothing  of  the  kind.  I  cannot  say  that 
the  cure  progressed  or  was  consolidated,  inasmuch 
as  it  had  been  as  complete  as  it  was  instantaneous. 
The  transition  of  a  malady  so  long  seated  and  obsti- 
nate to  its  complete  and  entire  cure,  was  effected 
without  the  least  gradation,  as  it  was  without  any  ap- 
parent shock  to  the  system.  But  my  son's  general 
health  improved  visibly  under  the  influence  of  a 
strengthening  diet,  of  which  it  was  full  time  for  him 
to  experience  the  salutary  effects." 

"  And  did  the  medical  men  attest  by  their  writ- 
ten declaration  the  anterior  state  of  your  son's 
health?  This  would  have  been  an  act  of  bare 
justice." 

"  I  was  of  the  same  opinion  as  yourself,  sir,  and 
I  sounded  on  the  subject  the  doctor  of  Bordeaux 
who  had  attended  Jules  in  the  last  instance ;  but  he 
maintained  a  reserve  in  the  matter  which  prevented 
me  from  pressing  him.  As  to  Doctor  Roques,  of 
Toulouse,  to  whom  I  wrote  immediately,  he  has- 
tened to  acknowledge  in  the  plainest  terms  the 
miraculous  nature  of  what  had  occurred  and  which 
was  quite  beyond  the  power  of  medical  skill. 

" '  In  presence  of  this  cure  desired  for  such  a 
length  of  time  and  so  promptly  obtained,'  he  wrote 
to  me,  '  how  can  we  help  leaving  the  narrow  hori- 
zon oi  scientific  explanations,  to  open  our  soul  to 
gratitude  on  so  strange  an  event  in  which  Provi- 
dence seems  to  act  in  obedience  to  the  faith  of  a 
child  3 '  He  rejected  energetically,  as  a  medica. 


474  °UR  LADY  OF  LOUEDE8. 

man,  the  theories  which  are  infallibly  brought  for 
ward  in  similar  circumstances  such  as  '  moral  ex- 
citement,'  'effects  of  the  imagination,  etc.,'  to 
proclaim  openly  in  this  event  '  the  precise  and 
positive  agency  of  a  superior  existence,  revealing 
itself  to  and  obtruding  itself  upon  the  conscience.' 
Such  was  the  unbiassed  opinion  of  M.  Roque, 
physician  of  Toulouse,  who  was  as  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted as  I  was  myself  with  the  previous  state  of 
my  son's  malady.  I  transcribe  the  above  from  his 
letter,  bearing  date  24th  February. 

"  Besides,  the  things  I  have  just  related  to  you 
were  so  notorious  that  no  one  would  think  for  a 
moment  of  disputing  them.  It  is  a  more  than  es- 
tablished fact  that  medical  science  was  utterly  foiled 
by  the  strange  malady  with  which  Jules  was  at- 
tacked. As  to  the  cause  of  his  recovery,  every  one 
can  judge  and  appreciate  it  according  to  the  point 
of  view  from  which  he  regards  it. 

"  For  myself,  who,  before  the  occurrence  of  this 
extraordinary  event,  believed  only  in  purely  natural 
agencies,  I  plainly  saw  that  I  must  seek  for  expla- 
nations in  a  higher  order ;  and  from  day  to  day  I 
raise  my  heart  in  gratitude  to  God,  who,  while 
bringing  to  a  close  a  long  and  cruel  trial  in  an  un- 
hoped-for manner,  touched  me  in  the  most  vulner- 
able part  in  order  to  make  me  bow  before  Him." 

"  I  understand  your  thoughts  and  feelings  on  that 
subject,  and  I  agree  with  you  that  such  was  the 
plan  of  God." 

After  having  said  these  words,  I  remained  for 
some  moments  silent  and  absorbed  in  my  own  re- 
flections. 

Our  conversation  returned  of  itself  to  the  child 


OUR  LADY  OP  LOTTRDE8.  475 

who  had  been  miraculously  cured.  The  father's 
heart  was  always  turning  in  that  direction  as  does 
the  magnetic  needle  towards  the  North. 

"  Since  that  time,"  he  said  to  me,  "  his  piety  is 
angeKc.  You  will  shortly  see  him.  The  nobleness 
of  his  feelings  may  be  read  in  his  countenance. 
He  is  well  disposed,  by  nature  upright  and  high- 
minded.  He  is  incapable  of  a  meanness  or  of  a 
falsehood.  But  his  piety  has  developed  to  the 
highest  degree  his  native  qualities.  He  is  study- 
ing now  at  a  school  in  the  neighborhood,  under 
M.  Conangle,  in  the  Rue  du  Mirail.  The  poor 
child  has  soon  recovered  the  time  he  had  lost.  He 
is  fond  of  study  and  is  at  the  head  of  his  class.  At 
the  last  distribution  of  prizes,  he  gained  that  for 
excellent  conduct.  But  above  all  he  is  most  pru- 
dent, amiable  and  good  in  every  respect.  He  is 
beloved  by  his  teachers  and  comrades.  He  is  our 
joy,  our  consolation." 

At  that  moment  the  door  was  opened  and  Jules 
entered  the  room  in  which  we  were,  with  his 
mother.  I  embraced  him  with  the  tenderest  emo- 
tion. His  countenance  is  radiant  with  the  glow  ot 
health.  His  brow,  high  and  broad,  is  magnificent, 
and  in  his  deportment  there  is  a  modesty  and  mild 
self-possession  which  inspires  respect.  His  eyes, 
which  are  very  large  and  very  lively,  reflect  rare 
intelligence,  absolute  purity  and  a  noble  soul. 

"  You  are  a  happy  father,"  I  said  to  M.  Laccas 
sagne. 

"  Yes,  sir,  very  happy.  But  my  poor  wife  and  I 
have  undergone  much  suffering." 

"  Do  not  complain  of  it,"  I  said  to  him  as  \\  c 
Hoved  to  a  little  distance  from  Jules.  "  This  sor 


476  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

rowful  road  was  the  way  which  led  you  from  dark 
ness  to  light,  from  death  to  life,  from  yourself  to 
God.  At  Lourdes,  the  Blessed  Virgin  has  shown 
herself  twice  the  Mother  of  the  living.  She  has 
given  to  your  son  temporal  life  in  order  to  give 
you  the  true  Life,  the  Life  which  will  last  foi 
ever." 

I  left  this  family  so  blessed  of  God ;  and  undei 
the  impression  of  what  I  had  seen  and  heard,  1 
wrote  —  my  heart  still  thrilling  with  emotion  — 
what  I  have  ue*  narrated. 


ELEVENTH  BOOK. 
I. 

Ll<;  f  us  return  to  Lourdes. 
Time  had  proceeded  on  its  course.     Human 
hands  had  set  to  work  in  good  earnest. 

The  approaches  to  the  Grotto,  in  which  the 
Virgin  ha»d  appeared,  were  changed  in  appearance. 
Without  losing  aught  of  its  grandeur,  this  wild  and 
stern  locality  had  assumed  a  graceful,  pleasing  and 
lively  aspect.  A  superb  church  —  not  yet  finished, 
but  swarming  with  workmen  —  proudly  seated  on 
the  summit  of  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  towered 
joyously  towards  Heaven.  The  great  slope,  ab- 
rupt and  uncultivated,  formerly  accessible  only  with 
difficulty  even  to  the  practiced  feet  of  mountaineers, 
was  covered  with  green  turf  and  planted  with 
shrubs  and  flowers.  Amidst  dahlias  and  roses 
daisies  and  violets,  beneath  the  snade  of  acacias  and 
cytisuses,  a  vast  path,  broad  as  a  road,  winded  in 
graceful  curves  and  lead  from  the  church  to  the 
Grotto. 

The  Grotto  was  closed  with  an  iron  railing,  after 
the  fashion  of  a  sanctuary.  A  golden  lamp  was 
suspended  from  the  roof.  Under  those  wild  rocks 

(477) 


478  OUR  LADT  OF  LOURDE8. 

on  which  the  Virgin  had  trodden  with  ner  divina 
feet,  clusters  of  tapers  burned  night  and  day. 

Outside  this  enclosed  portion,  the  miraculous 
Spring  fed  four  massive  basins  of  bronze.  A  pis- 
cina, concealed  from  observation  by  a  small  bui.d. 
ing  erected  over  it,  afforded  the  sick  an  opportunity 
of  bathing  in  the  blessed  water. 

The  situation  of  the  mill-stream  of  Savy  had  been 
altered,  being  thrown  back  up  the  stream  in  the 
direction  of  the  Gave.  The  Gave  itself  had  re- 
treated to  afford  room  for  a  magnificent  road  which 
led  to  these  Rocks  of  Massabielle,  formerly  so  to- 
tally unknown,  but  now  so  celebrated.  On  the 
banks  of  the  river  as  it  flowed  downwards,  the  soil 
had  been  levelled,  and  a  broad  lawn  bordered  with 
elms  and  poplars  formed  a  splendid  promenade. 

All  these  changes  had  been  effected  and  were 
still  being  effected  in  the  midst  of  an  immense  influx 
of  believers.  The  copper  coins  thrown  into  the 
Grotto  by  the  faith  of  the  people,  the  grateful  ex 
votos  of  so  many  invalids  who  had  been  cured,  of  so 
many  hearts  which  had  been  consoled,  of  so  many 
souls  which  had  been  restored  as  it  were  from  death 
to  truth  and  life,  sufficed  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
*hese  gigantic  labors,  the  estimate  of  which  was 

early  two  millions  of  francs.  When  God  in  his 
goodness  condescends  to  call  on  man  to  co-operate 
directly  in  any  one  of  his  works,  he  employs  neither 
soldiers  nor  gendarmes  to  collect  the  sums  needful, 
and  only  accepts  a  purely  voluntary  assistance  from 
the  hands  of  his  creatures.  The  Master  of  the 
world  repudiates  constraint,  for  He  is  the  God  of 
free  souls,  and  the  only  tribute  He  consents  to  re- 
ceive are  the  spontaneous  gifts  offered  to  him  from 


OUR  LAD 7   OF  LOVRDE8.  479 

a  happy  heart  and  entire  independence  by  those  b> 
whom  He  is  loved. 

Thus  was  the  church  being  built ;  thus  was  the 
mill-stream  and  the  river  diverted  into  othei 
courses;  thus  were  the  adjoining  lands  excavated 
or  levelled,  and  roads  laid  around  the  celebrated 
Rocks  where  the  Mother  of  Christ  had  manifested 
herself  in  her  glory  to  the  gaze  of  mortals. 


II. 


ENCOURAGING  the  workmen,  seeing  to  every- 
thing, suggesting  ideas,  sometimes  helping  himself 
to  straighten  a  stone  placed  crooked  or  a  tree  badly 
planted,  recalling  to  the  imagination  by  his  inde- 
fatigable ardor  and  his  holy  enthusiasm,  the  grand 
figures  of  Esdrasor  of  Nehemiah,  occupied,  in  obed- 
ience to  the  commands  of  God,  in  constructing  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  a  man  of  lofty  stature,  with  a 
broad  and  strongly  marked  forehead,  seemed  to  be 
everywhere  at  one  and  the  same  time.  He  attract- 
ed attention  even  from  a  considerable  distance  by 
his  powerful  frame  and  his  long  black  cassock.  His 
name  may  be  easily  guessed.  It  was  the  pastor  of 
the  town  of  Lourdes ;  it  was  the  Curd  Peyramale. 

Every  hour  in  the  day  he  was  thinking  on  the 
message  addressed  to  him  by  the  Blessed  Virgin 
through  the  youthful  Seer  ;  every  hour  in  the  day 
he  was  thinking  of  those  prodigious  cures  which 
had  accompanied  and  followed  the  divine  Appari- 
tion, of  those  countless  miracles  which  he  witnessed 
daily.  He  vowed  his  life  to  the  execution  of  the 
orders  of  the  mighty  Queen  of  the  Universe,  and 
to  the  erection  of  a  magnificent  monument  to  heT 


4»0  OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

glory.  Any  delay,  any  slowness,  even  the  loss  of 
a  single  moment  seemed  to  him  to  mark  the  in- 
gratitude  of  men  ;  and  his  heart,  devoured  with  zea. 
for  the  house  of  God,  often  led  to  his  being  indig- 
nant, and  manifested  itself  in  severe  admonitions. 
His  faith  was  absolute  and  replete  with  grandeur 
He  regarded  with  horror  the  wretched  narrowness 
of  human  prudence,  and  he  thundered  against  it 
with  the  holy  disdain  of  one  accustomed  to  view 
things  according  to  the  horizon  of  that  sacred 
mountain,  trom  whose  height  the  Son  of  God 
preached  the  nothingness  ol  earth  and  the  reality 
of  heaven :  "  Be  not  troubled.  Seek  first  my  king 
dom  and  all  the  rest  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

One  day,  just  opposite  the  miraculous  Fountain, 
m  the  middle  of  a  group  of  ecclesiastics  and  laics, 
an  architect  presented  to  him  a  plan — and  it  was 
by  no  means  an  ungraceful  one — of  a  charming 
little  church  which  he  proposed  bu-ilding  over  the 
Grotto.  The  Cur6  Peyramale  glanced  at  it  and  his 
face  became  flushed  ;  with  a  gesture  of  impatience 
he  crumpled  up  and  tore  the  plan  and  threw  the 
fragments  into  the  Gave. 

"  What  are  you  doing  ?"  exclaimed  the  astonish- 
ed  architect. 

"  You  see,"  replied  the  priest,  "  I  blushed  at 
what  human  meanness  presumes  to  offer  to  the 
Mother  of  my  God,  and  I  destroyed  the  miserable 
design.  What  we  must  have  here  in  memory  of 
the  great  events  which  have  taken  place,  is  not  a 
little  confined  village  church,  but  a  temple  of  mar- 
ble as  large  as  the  summit  of  the  Rocks  of  Massa- 
bielle  will  afford  room  for,  and  as  magnificent  as 
your  mind  can  possibly  conceive.  Now  then,  sir 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOrRLSS.  48; 

AS  an  architect  let  your  genius  indulge  in  the  mos 
daring  conceptions,  let  nothing  arrest  its  upward 
flight  and  let  it  give  us  a  master-piece.     Be  sure 
of  one  thing,  that  were  you  Michael  Angelo  r.im 
self,  it  would  be  strangely  unworthy  of  the  VYrgin 
who  has  appeared  here." 

"  But,  sir,"  observed  every  one  to  the  Cur£  "  i 
would  take  millions  to  realize  what  you  are  speak 
ing  of." 

"  He   who  caused   a   Spring  of  living  water  to 
gush  forth  from  this  barren  rock  will  have  no  diffi 
culty  in  rendering  the  hearts  of  believers  gener 
ous,"  replied  the  priest.     "  Go,  and  have  no  fears. 
Why  do  you  tremble,  Christians  of  little  faith  ?" 

The  temple  was  erected  in  the  proportions  de- 
signed by  the  man  of  God. 

Often  the  Cur£,  considering  the  different  works 
in  progress,  used  to  say,  "  When  will  it  be  granted 
to  me  to  be  present,  in  the  midst  of  Priests  ana  the 
faithful,  at  the  first  procession  which  shall  come  to 
inaugurate  in  these  blessed  places,  the  public  vvor 
ship  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Might  I  not  in  such 
a  moment  chant  my  Nunc  Dimittis  and  expire  with 
joy  at  such  a  feast." 

His  eyes  used  to  fill  with  tears  at  such  thoughts. 
i  fever  was  any  desire  more  ardent  and  more  tond- 
ly  dwelt  on  in  the  depth  of  a  soul  than  this  inno 
cent  wish  of  a  heart  entirely  taken  up  with  God. 

Occasionally,  at  times  when  there  were  but  few 
persons  at  the  Rocks  of  Massabeille,  a  little  girl 
came  to  kneel  humbly  before  the  place  of  the  Ap- 
parition, and  to  drink  at  the  spring.  She  was 
evidently  sprung  from  the  people  and  was  poorly 
•iressed.  There  was  nothing  to  distinguish  her 

2) 


4*2  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUPJ)ES. 

from  others,  and  unless  some  pilgrim  happened  .<. 
know  her,  or  to  inform  others  of  her  name,  no  one 
would  have  guessed  that  it  was  Bernadette.  She 
who  had  been  so  highly  privileged  by  the  Lord, 
had  returned  to  her  primitive  state  of  silence  and 
obscurity.  She  continued  to  attend  the  schools  of 
the  Sisters,  where  she  was  the  most  simple  of  th 
scholars  and  would  have  wished  to  have  been 
one  of  the  most  in  the  shade.  The  countless  visits 
she  received  there  did  not  trouble  her  peaceful 
soul,  in  which  the  memory  of  her  glimpse  of  heaven 
and  the  image  of  the  incomparable  Virgin  lived  for 
ever.  The  people,  however,  thronged  to  the  spot 
from  every  direction,  miracles  were  there  accom- 
plished, and  the  temple  rose  by  degrees.  And 
Bernadette,  like  the  saintly  Cur6  of  Lourdes,  look- 
ed forward  to  the  day — the  most  fortunate  to  her 
next  to  those  of  the  Divine  visit — when  she  should 
with  her  own  eyes,  see  the  Priests  of  the  true  God, 
conducting  the  faithful,  headed  by  the  Cross,  and 
with  banners  floating  in  the  air,  to  the  Rock  of  the 
Apparition. 

In  fact,  notwithstanding  the  bishop's  pastoral 
letter,  the  Church  had  not  y:t  taken  possession  by 
any  public  ceremony  of  these  forever  sacred  places. 
This,  however,  was  solemnly  done  April  4,  1864, 
by  the  inauguration  and  benediction  of  a  su- 
perb statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  was  placed, 
with  all  the  pomp  usual  on  such  occasions,  in  the 
rustic  niche  wreathed  with  wild  roses,  where  the 
Mother  of  God  had  made  her  appearance  to  the 
daughter  of  man. 

The  weather  was  magnificent.  The  sun  of  earlv 
spring  had  risen  and  was  progressing  through  the 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8.  483 

azure  dome  of  heaven,  which  was  not  specked  with 
a  single  cloud. 

The  town  of  Lourdes  was  dressed  with  flowers, 
banners,  garlands  and  triumphal  arches.  From  the 
high  tower  of  the  parish  church,  from  all  the  chap 
els  of  the  town,  and  from  all  the  churches  01  the 
neighborhood,  joyous  peals  of  bells  burst  forth. 
Vast  multitudes  had  assembled  to  take  part  in  this 
grand  fete  of  earth  and  heaven.  A  procession  such 
as  never  had  been  seen  within  the  memory  of  man, 
started  in  order  to  proceed  from  the  parish  church 
of  Lourdes  to  the  Grotto  of  the  Apparition.  Bodies 
of  troops,  in  all  the  splendor  of  military  equipment, 
led  the  way.  Immediately  following  them  were 
the  Brotherhoods  of  Lourdes,  the  mutual-aid  so- 
deties ;  all  the  corporations  of  the  adjoining  dis- 
tricts, bearing  their  banners  and  cross ;  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Children  of  Mary,  whose  flowing 
robes  shone  like  snow ;  the  Sisters  of  Nevers  with 
their  long  black  veils;  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  rn 
large  white  caps  ;  the  Sisters  of  Saint  Joseph,  en- 
veloped in  their  dark  cloaks  ;  the  religious  orders 
of  men,  Carmelites  and  teaching  Brothers  of  the 
Christian  Schools,  immense  multitudes  of  pilgrims, 
men,  women  and  children,  not  forgetting  old  men, 
in  all,  fifty  to  sixty  thousand  human  beings,  ranged  in 
two  interminable  files,  wound  along  the  road,  strew- 
ed with  flowers,  leading  to  the  illustrious  Rocks  of 
M  issabielle.  At  intervals,  choruses  of  human  voices 
&nd  bands  of  instrumental  music  made  the  air  re- 
sound with  triumphal  marches,  canticles,  and  all 
the  outbursts  of  popular  enthusiasm.  Lastly,  bring- 
ing up  the  rear  of  this  unheard-of  procession,  the 
most  eminent  Prelate,  Monseigneur  Bertrand- 


LADY  OF  LOUBDSS. 

Laurence,  Bishop  of  Tarbes,  surrounded 
by  four  hundred  priests  in  full  canonicals,  by  hia 
grand  vicars,  and  by  the  dignitaries  of  the  chapter 
of  his  cathedral  church,  marched  with  solemn  steps, 
wearing  his  mitre  and  attired  in  his  pontifical  robes, 
blessing  with  one  hand  the  assembled  people,  while 
with  the  other  he  supported  himself  on  his  large 
golden  crozier. 

An  indescribable  emotion,  a  kind  of  intoxication 
such  as  is  only  known  by  Christian  multitudes  as- 
sembled in  the  sight  of  God,  filled  all  hearts.  In 
fact,  the  day  of  solemn  triumph  had  come,  after  so 
many  difficulties,  so  many  struggles,  so  many  ob- 
stacles. Tears  of  happiness,  enthusiasm,  and  love, 
trickled  down  the  cheeks  of  these  masses  of  people, 
agitated  by  the  breath  of  God. 

What  ineffable  joy  must,  in  the  midst  of  this  fete, 
have  filled  the  heart  of  Bernadette,  who,  doubtless, 
marched  at  the  head  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Children  of  Mary  !  What  feelings  of  overwhelming 
felicity  must  have  inundated  the  soul  of  the  vener- 
able Curd  of  Lourdes,  as  he  chanted,  without  doubt, 
at  the  bishop's  side,  the  Hosanna  of  the  Divine  vic- 
tory ?  Both  of  them  having  been  partakers  of  the 
affliction,  the  moment  was  now  come  for  both  of 
them  to  be  present  at  the  glory. 

Alas  !  Bernadette  was  sought  for  in  vain  among 
the  Children  of  Mary;  the  Curd  Peyramale  was 
sought  for  in  vain  among  the  clergy  who  surrounded 
the  Prelate.  There  are  joys  too  great  for  earth  and 
which  are  reserved  for  heaven.  Here  below,  God 
refuses  them  even  to  his  dearest  sons. 

At  the  very  time  when  everything  wore  a  festa. 
air  and  the  sun  shone  joyously  on  the  triumph  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

the  faithful,  the  Cure  of  Lourdes,  attacked  with  a 
malady  which  was  pronounced  mortal,  was  the 
victim  of  the  most  terrible  physical  sufferings.  He 
was  lying  stretched  on  his  bed  of  pain,  at  the  foot 
of  which  two  religieuses  connected  with  the  hospi- 
tal, prayed  and  watched  day  and  night.  He  wished 
to  have  been  lifted  from  his  bed  to  have  seen  the 
grand  cortege,  but  his  strength  failed  him,  and  he 
had  not  even  a  passing  glimpse  of  all  its  splendor. 
Through  the  closed  curtains  of  his  apartment,  the 
joyous  sound  of  the  silvery  bells  only  reached  hirr. 
like  a  funeral  knell. 

As  to  Bernadette,  God  marked  His  predilection 
for  her — as  is  His  wont  to  do  with  His  elect — by 
causing  her  to  pass  through  the  grand  trial  of  pain. 
While,  presiding  over  the  immense  procession  of 
the  faithful,  Monseigneur  Laurence,  Bishop  of 
Tarbes,  was  going  in  the  name  of  the  Church  to 
take  possession  of  the  Rocks  of  Massabielle  and 
solemnly  inaugurate  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  who 
had  appeared  to  her,  Bernadette,  like  the  eminent 
Priest  of  whom  we  have  just  spoken,  was  brought 
low  by  sickness  ;  and  maternal  Providence,  fearing 
perhaps  for  her  much-loved  child  the  temptation 
of  vain-glory,  deprived  her  of  the  sight  of  those 
unheard-of  fetes,  where  she  would  have  heard  her 
own  name  re-echoed  with  acclamation  by  thous- 
sands  of  voices,  and  celebrated  from  the  Christian 
pulpit  by  the  ardent  words  of  those  who  preached 
on  the  occasion.  Too  poor  to  receive  proper  at- 
tention at  home,  where  neither  she  nor  any  of  her 
family  had  ever  wished  to  receive  any  pecuniary 
aid,  Bernadette  had  been  carried  to  the  hospital 
•vhere  she  lay  on  the  humble  pallet  of  public  char 


486  01722  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 

ity,  in  the  midst  of  poor  creatures,  whom  this  trans 
itory  world  terms  wretched,  but  whom  Jesus  Chrisf 
has  blessed,  by  declaring  them  the  inheritors  of 
His  eternal  kingdom. 

IV. 

ELEVEN  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  Appa- 
ritions of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  The  vast  temple  is 
nearly  finished.  It  only  requires  to  be  roofed,  and 
for  a  long  time  the  Holy  Sacrifice  has  been  cele- 
brated at  all  the  altars  of  the  subterranean  crypt. 
Diocesan  Missionaries  from  the  house  of  Garaison 
have  been  installed  by  the  bishop  at  a  few  paces 
from  the  Grotto  and  the  church,  in  order  to  dis- 
tribute to  the  pilgrims  the  apostolic  word,  the  sa- 
craments and  the  body  of  our  Lord. 

The  pilgrimages  have  become  developed  in  pro- 
portions perhaps  unexampled  in  the  universe,  for 
never,  until  our  own  time,  had  these  vast  move- 
ments of  popular  faith  the  omnipotent  means  of 
transport  invented  by  modern  science  at  their  dis- 
posal. The  railroad  of  the  Pyrenees — for  which  a 
line  more  direct  and  less  costly  had  been  marked 
beforehand  between  Tarbes  and  Pau — has  made  a 
detour  in  order  to  have  a  station  at  Lourdes,  where 
ii  sets  down  incessantly  innumerable  travelers, 
who  come  from  every  point  of  the  horizon  to  in- 
voke the  Virgin  who  appeared  at  the  Grotto,  and 
to  seek  the  cure  of  their  maladies.  They  throng 
there  not  only  from  the  different  provinces  of 
France,  but  even  from  England,  Belgium,  Spain, 
Russia  and  Germany.  From  the  interior  of  dis- 
tant America — both  north  and  south — pious  Chris- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDEB. 

ilans  have  started  and  traversed  oceans  in  order  tc 
repair  to  the  Grotto  of  Lourdes  and  kneel  before 
those  celebrated  Rocks,  which  the  Mother  of  God 
has  sanctified  by  touching  them.  Often  those  who 
cannot  come  themselves,  write  to  the  Missionaries 
requesting  them  to  forward  a  little  of  this  miracu- 
lous water  to  their  homes.  It  is  sent  to  every  part 
of  the  world. 

Although  Lourdes  is  but  a  small  town,  there  is 
on  the  road  leading  to  the  Grotto,  a  perpetual 
transit  to  and  fro,  a  prodigious  movement  of  men, 
women,  priests,  and  carriages,  as  in  the  streets  of 
a  thickly  populous  city. 

As  soon  as  the  fine  weather  returns  and  the  sun, 
having  put  winter  to  flight,  opens  in  the  midst  of 
flowers,  the  azure  and  golden  gates  of  spring,  the 
Christians  of  those  districts  commence  to  move  in 
order  to  make  their  pilgrimage  to  Massabielle,  no 
longer,  as  during  the  winter,  singly,  but  in  im- 
mense caravans.  From  a  circumference  of  ten, 
twelve  or  fifteen  leagues,  the  hardy  people  of  the 
Mountain  arrive  on  foot  in  troops  of  a  thousand  or 
two  thousand.  They  start  the  day  before  in  the 
evening,  and  march  through  the  night  by  star- 
light, like  the  shepherds  of  Judaea  going  to  the 
crib  of  Bethlehem  to  adore  the  birth  of  the  Infant 
God.  They  descend  from  the  lofty  mountain- 
peaks,  toil  up  the  deep  valleys,  and  defile  along  the 
banks  of  streams  and  rivers,  singing  hymns  to  God. 
And  as  they  pass,  the  sleeping  herds  of  cattle 
awake,  and  the  melancholy  sound  of  their  sonorous 
bells  re-echoes  through  the  lonely  wastes.  At  day- 
break, tne  pilgrims  arrive  at  Lourdes.  They  form 
themselves  into  a  procession,  and  unfurl  their  ban- 


488  OUR  LADY  OF  LOUEDES. 

nersand  oriflammes  to  proceed  to  the  Grotto.  The 
men  in  blue  caps,  with  coarse  nailed  shoes  cover- 
ed with  the  dust  of  their  midnight  march,  support 
themselves  on  their  knotted  staves,  bearing  for  the 
most  part  on  their  shoulders  the  provisions  neces- 
sary for  their  journey.  The  women  wear  the  white 
or  red  capulet.  Some  of  them  are  laden  with  the 
sweet  burden  of  their  infants.  All  this  multitude 
advances  slowly  in  a  state  of  recollection  chanting 
the  litanies  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

At  Massabielle,  they  listen  to  the  Mass,  kneel  at 
the  holy  table  and  drink  at  the  miraculous  Fountain. 
Afterwards  they  disperse  in  groups,  of  their  own 
family  or  of  their  friends,  on  the  lawns  which  sur- 
round the  Grotto,  and,  spreading  on  the  grass  the 
provisions  they  have  brought  with  them,  seat  them- 
selves on  the  verdant  carpet  of  the  meadows.  Thus 
on  the  banks  of  the  Gave,  beneath  the  shade  of 
those  blessed  rocks,  they  realize,  in  their  frugal  re- 
past, those  fraternal  love-feasts  of  which  the  Chris- 
tians of  primitive  times  have  left  us  the  tradition. 
Then,  after  having  received  the  benediction  afresh, 
and  having  kneeled  down  for  the  last  time,  they  re 
sume,  with  happy  hearts,  the  road  homewards. 

Thus  do  the  people  of  the  Pyrenees  come  to  the 
Grotto.  But  it  is  not  from  that  quarter  that  the 
greatest  multitudes  arrive.  From  a  distance  of 
sixty  to  eighty  leagues  there  arrive  every  day  im- 
mense processions,  transported  on  the  swift  wings 
of  steam.  We  have  seen  them  come  from  Bayonne, 
Peyrehorade,  La  Teste,  Arcachon  and  Bcrdeaux. 
They  will  come  from  Paris.  At  the  request  of  the 
Faithful,  the  railroad  of  the  South  organizes  special 
trains,  devoted  exclusively  to  this  vai>t  and  pioui 


0022  LAD7  OF  LOUKDE&  489 

movement  of  Catholic  Faith.  On  the  arrival  of 
these  trains,  the  bells  of  Lourdes  are  pealed.  And 
from  these  black  cars  there  issue  and  arrange  them- 
selves in  procession,  in  the  court  of  the  railway- 
station,  young  girls  dressed  in  white,  wives,  wid- 
ows, children,  men  of  mature  age,  as  well  as  those 
bent  with  years,  and  the  Clergy  clothed  in  their 
sacred  robes.  Banners  and  standards  float  in  the 
air.  There  is  seen  passing  by  the  Cross  of  Christ, 
the  statue  of  the  Virgin,  the  image  of  the  Saints. 
Chaunts  to  the  honor  of  Mary  burst  from  the  lips 
of  all.  The  endless  procession  traverses  the  town, 
which,  on  those  days,  presents  the  appearance  of  a 
holy  city,  like  Rome  or  Jerusalem.  The  heart 
swells  at  the  sight ;  it  mounts  towards  God,  and 
feels  carried,  of  its  own  accord,  to  those  sublime 
heights  where  tears  come  to  the  eye  and  where  the 
soul  is  deliciously  oppressed  by  the  sensible  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord  Jesus.  For  a  moment  one  be- 
lieves he  has  had  a  Vision  of  Paradise. 

V. 

GOD  has  done  His  work. 

God  has  said  to  the  flake  of  snow,  motionless  and 
lost  on  the  solitary  peaks,  "  Thou  art  about  to  come 
from  Myself  to  Myself.  Thou  art  about  to  go  from 
the  inaccessible  heights  of  the  Mountain  to  the 
unfathomable  depths  of  the  Sea."  And  he  has  sent 
ms  servant  the  Sun,  with  his  pencil  of  rays,  to  col- 
lect and  to  urge,  with  its  broom  of  diamonds,  this 
glittering  dust,  which  changes  itself  immediately 
into  limpid  pearls.  Drops  of  water  trickle  from  the 
edge  of  the  snow ;  they  roll  over  the  brow  of  the 


490  OUR  LADY  OP  LOUEDE8. 

mountains  ;  they  bound  across  the  rocks  ;  they  arc 
broken  among  the  pebbles ;  they  unite  together  • 
they  form  one  volume  of  water,  and  then  they  pur- 
sue  their  course  together,  sometimes  calmly,  some- 
times rapidly  to  >  jrds  the  vast  ocean  —  striking 
image  of  eternal  movement  in  eternal  repose  ;  and 
at  length,  they  reach  the  valleys  inhabited  by  the 
race  of  Adam. 

"  We  will  arrest  this  iJrop  of  water,"  say  men,  a? 
proud  as  they  were  at  Babel. 

And  they  attempt  to  stem  this  feeble  and  tranquil 
current  which  descends  calmly  among  the  meadows. 
But  the  current  laughs  at  wooden  dykes,  masses  o*" 
earth  and  heaps  of  stones. 

"  We  will  arrest  this  Drop  of  water,"  repeat  the 
fools  in  their  madness. 

And  what  do  they  ?  They  join  together  immense 
rocks,  cementing  them  together  invincibly.  Anc) 
yet,  despite  their  efforts,  the  water  filters  through 
and  passes  through  a  thousand  fissures.  But  these 
men  are  numerous ;  they  outnumber  the  army  of 
Darius;  they  are  possessed  of  immense  force.  They 
stop  up  the  thousand  fissures ;  they  replace  the 
fallen  stones,  and  the  time  comes  when  the  Gave 
cannot  pass  further.  The  Gave  has  before  it  a 
bar  higher  than  the  Pyramids,1  thicker  than  the 
celebrated  ramparts  of  Babylon.  On  this  side  of 
that  gigantic  wall  the  pebbles  of  its  gigantic  bed 
glitter  in  the  sun. 

Human  pride  exults  with  huzzahs  and  cries  of 
triumph. 

The  wave  continues,  notwithstanding,  to  descend 
from  the  eternal  heights  where  the  voice  of  God 
has  made  itself  heard ;  thousands  of  drooc  of 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDBA  ^i 

water,  arriving  one  by  one,  halt  before  the  obstacle 
and  rise  silently  before  this  wall  of  granite  which 
men  have  built. 

"  Contemplate,"  say  these,  "  the  omnipotence  ol 
our  race.  Look  at  this  Titanic  wall.  Cast  your 
eyes  on  its  formation ;  admire  its  incalculable  height. 
We  have  conquered  for  ever  the  torrent  which  is 
descending  from  the  heights  of  the  mountain." 

At  this  very  moment  a  slight  gush  of  water  passes 
this  cyclopean  bar.  Every  one  rushes  to  effect  a 
stoppage.  The  gush  of  water  has  increased.  It 
becomes  a  stream,  which  flows  with  fury,  carrying 
before  it  the  highest  rocks  of  wall  intended  to  stop 
its  progress. 

"  What  is  that?"  they  exclaim,  from  every  part 
of  the  doomed  city. 

"  It  is  the  Drop  of  water  which  resumes  its 
march  and  passes  on  its  way — the  Drop  of  water 
to  which  God  has  spoken." 

To  what  purpose  was  your  wall  of  Babel  ?  What 
have  your  Titanic  efforts  effected  ?  You  have  but 
changed  a  peaceful  stream  into  a  formidable  cata- 
ract. You  wished  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the 
Drop  of  water ;  it  resumes  its  course  with  the  im- 
petuosity of  Niagara. 

How  humble  was  this  Drop  of  water,  this  infan- 
tine word  to  which  God  had  said,  "  Follow  thy 
course  !"  How  little  was  this  Drop  of  water,  this 
shepherd-girl  burning  a  taper  at  the  Grotto,  this 
poor  woman  praying  and  offering  a  bouquet  to  the 
Virgin,  this  old  peasant  humbly  kneeling !  How 
strong  was  this  wall,  how  impregnable  and  invincible 
it  appeared,  after  naving  occupied  the  attention  and 
absorbed  the  labor  of  a  great  State,  from  the  com 


49* 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOUXDE8. 


mon  workman  up  to  the  overseer,  from  the  agent 
of  the  police  up  to  the  Prefect  and  the  Minister. 

The  child,  the  good  woman,  the  aged  peasant 
have  resumed  their  task.  Only  it  is  no  longer  a 
taper  or  a  poor  bouquet  which  bears  witness  to  the 
popular  faith ;  it  is  a  magnificent  edifice  built  by 
the  faithful ;  it  is  proved  by  the  millions  contributed 
towards  the  foundations  of  a  temple  already  illus- 
trious in  Christendom,  It  had  been  attempted  to 
arrest  a  few  isolated  believers ;  now  they  come  in 
crowds,  in  vast  processions,  with  banners  flying. 
and  singing  hymns.  It  is  unheard  of  pilgrimages — 
whole  populations  which  arrive,  transported  OP 
iron  roads  by  chariots  of  fire  and  steam.  It  is  no 
longer  a  small  country  which  believes,  it  is  Europe  : 
it  is  the  Christian  world  which  hastens  to  the  spot. 
The  Drop  of  water  which  they  would  have  chained 
has  become  a  mighty  Niagara. 

God  has  done  his  work.  And  now,  as  on  the 
seventh  day,  when  He  entered  on  His  rest,  He  has 
left  to  man  the  care  of  profiting  by  his  work,  and 
the  fearful  faculty  of  developing  or  compromising 
it.  He  has  given  them  a  germ  of  fruitful  graces,  as 
he  has  given  them  a  germ  of  everything,  charging 
them  with  its  cultivation  and  development.  They 
can  increase  it  a  hundred-fold  if  they  march  humbly 
and  piously  in  the  order  of  the  divine  scheme  ;  they 
can  render  it  sterile  if  they  refuse  to  enter  into  it. 
Every  good  thing  coming  from  on  high  is  entrusted 
to  human  free  will,  as  it  was  at  the  origin  of  the 
earthly  Paradise,  which  contained  everything  good, 
on  the  condition  of  knowing  how  to  work  it  out 
and  keep  it,  ut  operaretur  et  custodiret  ilium.  Let 
us  pray  to  God  that  mankind  may  never  lose  what 


OUR  LADY  OF  LOURDE8. 


493 


His  Providence  has  done  for  them,  and  that,  by 
earthly  ideas  or  anti-evangelic  actions,  they  may 
not  break,  in  their  culpable  or  clumsy  hands,  the 
vessel  of  divine  graces,  the  sacred  vessel  which  has 
been  deposited  with  them. 

VI. 

THE  greater  number  of  persons  mentioned  in  the 
course  of  this  long  history  are  still  living. 

Only  a  few  of  them  have  departed  from  this 
lower  world.  The  Prefect,  Baron  Massy,  the 
Judge,  M.  Duprat,  the  Mayor,  M.  Lacad6,  and  the 
Minister,  M.  Fould,  are  dead. 

Many  have  advanced  in  their  career.  M.  Rou- 
land  has  left  the  Ministry  of  Public  Worship — 
which,  it  appears,  did  not  altogether  suit  him — 
to  administer  the  golden  ledgers  of  the  Bank  oi 
France.  M.  Dutour,  Procureur  Imperial,  has  reach- 
ed a  higher  position  in  the  Court  of  Judicature. 
M.  Jacomet  is  Chief  Commissary  of  Police  in  one 
•  >f  the  most  important  cities  of  the  binpx,  • 

Bourriette,  Croisine  Beauhohorts  and  her  son, 
Mme.  Rizan,  Heary  Busquet,  Mile.  Moreau  de 
^zen»  Mme.  Crozat  and  Jules  Lacassagne — in 
fact,  all  those  whose  cures  we  have  narrated — are 
still  in  high  health  and  bear  witness,  by  their  re- 
covery and  the  disappearance  or  tneu'  maladies,  to 
the  omnipotent  mercy  of  tbe  Apparition  of  the 
Grotto. 

Doctor  Dozens  continues  to  be  the  most  eminent 
physician  of  Lourdes.  Doctor  Vergez  sup?**uitcnds 
the  baths  at  Ber6ges,  and  can  attest  to  the  visitors 
of  that  celebrated  resort  the  miracles  authenticated 


494  °&R  LADY  OF  LOUKDE8. 

by  him  long  ago.  M.  Estradas,  an  impartial  ob- 
server,  whose  impressions  we  have  more  than  once 
referred  to,  is  Receveur  des  Contributions  Indirecte: 
at  Bordeaux.  He  resides  in  the  Rue  Ducan, 
No.  14. 

Monseigneur  Laurence  is  still  Bishop  of  Tarbes. 
The  faculties  of  the  Prelate  have  suffered  no  dim- 
minution  from  age.  He  remains  precisely  as  we 
have  depicted  him  in  this  book.  He  possesses  near 
the  Grotto  a  house  to  which  he  at  times  retires  to 
meditate — in  those  places  so  loved  by  the  Virgin — 
on  the  grave  duties  and  grave  responsibilities  of  a 
Christian  bishop,  whose  diocese  has  been  the  scene 
of  sucb  a  marvelous  instance  of  grace. 

The  />bb£  Peyramale  has  recovered  from  the 
serious  illness  to  which  we  referred  above.  He  is 
still  the  venerated  pastor  of  the  Christian  town  of 
Lourdes,  where  he  is  personally  know»n  as  ever 
being  the  first  to  come  forward  when  any  good  is 
to  be  done.  Long,  long  after  his  time,  when  he  lies 
under  the  turf  in  the  midst  of  the  generation  train- 
i»d  by  him  to  the  service  of  God,  and  the  successors 
of  his  successors  dwell  in  his  Presbytery  and  mount 
his  chair  in  the  Church,  the  memory  of  him  will 
live  in  the  mind  of  all,  and  when  they  repeat  the 
words,  "  the  Cure  of  Lourdes,"  it  is  to  him  that 
their  thoughts  will  recur. 

Louise  Soubirous,  the  mother  of  Bernadette, 
died  8th  of  December,  1866,  the  very  day  of  the 
Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  In  choosing 
this  day  for  removing  the  mother  from  the  misery 
of  this  world,  she  who  had  said  to  her  child,  "  I  am 
the  Immaculate  Conception,"  seems  to  have  wished 
to  temper,  in  the  minds  of  the  survivors,  the  bitter 


OUR  LADY  0^    LOURDE8.  49 j 

ness  of  such  a  death,  and  to  show  them — as  a  cer- 
tain pledge  of  hope  and  of  a  haj>^y  resurrection— 
the  souvenir  of  her  radiant  Apparition. 

While  millions  of  francs  are  appropriated  to  the 
completion  of  the  august  temple,  Soubirous,  the 
father  of  Bernadette,  has  remained  a  poor  miller 
earning  a  precarious  existence  by  the  labor  of  his 
hands.  Marie,  the  one  of  his  daughters  who  was 
with  the  youthful  seer  at  the  time  of  the  first  Appa- 
rition, is  married  to  an  honest  peasant,  who  has 
learned  the  trade  of  miller,  and  works  with  h'^ 
father-in-law,  Bernadette's  other  companion  on 
that  occasion  is  now  in  service  at  Bordeaux. 

VII. 

BERNADETTE  is  no  longer  at  Lourdes.  We  have 
seen  how  on  several  occasions  she  rejected  the 
offers  of  enthusiasm  and  refused  to  open  to  fortune 
when  it  knocked  at  the  humble  door  of  her  dwell- 
ing. She  dreamt  of  riches  of  a  very  different  kind. 
"  We  shall  know  some  day" — the  unbelievers  had 
said  originally — "how  she  will  be  recompensed." 
Truly,  Bernadette  has  chosen  her  recompense  and 
laid  her  hand  on  her  treasure.  She  has  become  a 
Sister  of  Charity.  She  has  devoted  herself  to  the 
care  of  the  poor  and  the  sick  received  by  public 
charity  in  the  hospitals. 

After  having  seen  the  resplendent  countenance 
of  the  Mother  of  the  thrice  holy  God,  how  could 
she  do  otherwise  than  become  the  tender  servant 
of  those  of  whom  the  Son  of  the  Virgin  has  said, 
"  What  ye  shall  do  to  the  least  of  these  little  ones, 
ye  shall  do  it  unto  me." 


OUR   LADY  OF  LOURDES. 

ft  is  with  the  Sisters  of  Charity  and  Christian 
Instruction  at  Nevers  that  the  youthful  Seer  has 
taken  the  veil.  Her  name  in  Religion  is  Marie- 
Bernard.  We  saw  her  some  time  ago  in  her  relig- 
ious dress  at  the  Mother-house  of  the  Congrega 
tion.  Although  she  is  now  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  her  countenance  still  preserves  the  character 
and  grace  of  childhood.  She  possesses  an  incom- 
parable charm — a  charm  which  is  not  of  here  oc- 
low  and  which  raises  the  soul  towards  the  regions 

o 

of  heaven.  In  her  presence  the  heart  feels  stirred 
up  with  the  best  emotions,  by  I  know  not  what  sen- 
timent of  religion,  and  when  you  leave  her  you  feel 
embalmed  with  the  perfume  of  her  calm  innocence. 
You  can  easily  understand  the  love  of  the  Virgin 
for  her.  In  other  respects  there  is  nothing  extra- 
ordinary about  her,  nothing  to  point  her  out  or 
make  you  divine  the  most  important  part  she  has 
played  between  heaven  and  earth.  Her  simplicity 
has  not  in  the  least  suffered  from  the  unheard-of 
agitation  which  arose  around  her.  The  concourse 
of  multitudes  and  the  enthusiasm  of  whole  popula- 
tions have  no  more  troubled  her  soul,  than  would 
the  water  of  a  torrent  tarnish  the  imperishable 
purity  of  a  diamond,  whether  it  were  subjected  an 
hour  or  a  century  to  its  waters. 

God  still  visits  her,  no  longer  with  radiant  appa- 
ritions, but  with  the  sanctified  trials  of  suffering, 
She  is  often  ill  and  her  tortures  are  cruel.  She 
supports  them  with  a  sweet  and  almost  cheerful 
patience.  Often  she  has  been  supposed  to  be  dy 
ing.  "  I  shall  not  die  yet,"  she  says,  smiling. 

Never  does  she  speak  of  the  divine  favor  she  has 
••eceived,  unless  directlr  questioned  on  the  subject 


49'/ 

She  was  the  witness  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Now 
that  she  has  fulfilled  her  message,  she  has  retired 
into  the  shade  of  a  religious  life,  full  of  humility 
and  seeking  to  lose  herself  in  the  crowd  of  hei 
companions. 

It  is  a  cause  of  grief  to  her  when  any  one  from 
the  world  comes  to  find  her  out  in  the  bosom  of 
her  retreat,  and  any  circumstance  obliges  her  once 
more  to  come  prominently  forward.  She  rejects 
whatever  might  recall  to  her  the  celebrity  of  her 
name  in  the  Christian  world.  Buried  in  her  cell, 
or  absorbed  in  the  care  of  the  sick,  she  shuts  her 
ears  to  all  the  tumults  of  earth ;  she  turns  away 
from  them  her  thoughts  and  her  heart  to  recollect 
herself  in  the  peace  of  her  solitude,  and  in  the  joys 
of  charity.  She  lives  in  the  humility  of  the  Lord 
and  is  dead  to  the  vanities  of  this  lower  world. 
This  book,  which  we  have  just  written,  and  which 
speaks  so  much  of  Bernadette,  will  never  be  read 
by  Sister  Marie-Bernard. 


UCSB    LIBRARY 


